In The Dark
by Aline Riva
Summary: ***This story is set 10 years after the movie Home Alone 4*** After ten years in jail, Marv comes out of prison with plans to start a new life with his wife Vera - but their new start quickly spirals into a nightmare when Vera uncovers buried secrets...
1. Chapter 1

**Title: In the Dark**

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**Summary:**

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*****This is a Home Alone 4 future based fic set 10 years after the movie Home Alone 4 :Taking Back the House and focuses on the characters of Marv and Vera.*****

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**Ten years have passed by since Vera Merchants testified against her husband Marv in exchange for her own freedom after he was found guilty of burglary and plotting the failed kidnapping of a prince.**

**Vera now lives quietly with her sister Violet and her daughter Elise – _Marv's daughter, who he knows nothing about_ - and when she finds out that her husband has been released from prison, she is horrified and plans to pack up and leave town before the former criminal and mental patient Marv Merchants turns up on her doorstep.**

**But Marv's already in town and when he sneaks into her house unannounced, at first she is shocked but after a passionate reunion Vera admits the truth she has been hiding for ten long years: **

**_She has never stopped loving him..._**

**Despite her sister Violet's pleas not to trust him a second time, Vera makes up her mind to give her marriage one last try as Marv promises he is a changed man. Then Vera packs up and leaves with Marv, heading off into a new life with her husband, who tells her he has bought them a house in another town, where they can make a brand new start – which is easer said than done when Vera's sister decides to come along for the ride, and it seems that Violet has made up her mind to make Marv's life as difficult as possible, too.**

**The small town is in the middle of nowhere and Vera begins to feel isolated. Then, when she learns the reason why Marv could afford the house in the first place, she is horrified: **

**_The place was going cheap because it was once the scene of the horrific murder of an entire family._ **

**Marv reminds her it happened a very long time ago, and she tries to put the past aside to make this fresh start work - but just when things seem to be working out, Marv becomes aware they may not be quite as alone as they think they are - _and events take a dark turn, leaving Vera fighting not only for her own survival but her husband's sanity as she uncovers a secret that is far more terrifying than anything she could imagine in her worst nightmares..._**

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**Pairing: Marv/Vera (Home Alone 4)**

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**Rating: T**

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**Warnings: Contains strong language, some violence, references to rape, self harm, adult situations.**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing; this is a work of fan fiction.**

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Chapter 1

As Vera the open the wardrobe and wondered what she ought to grab first, she thought about her daughter's room- she hadn't even packed up anything for Elise yet...

Then she took a deep breath to try and stop her head spinning as she thought about the cause of her rush to leave her sister's apartment:

One phone call had caused all this_; a phone call from Marv..._

Vera sat down on her bed and gave a sigh of despair:

_What use would running way do?_

She had nowhere else to go, she'd lived with her sister since Marv had gone to jail back in the days when his crazy idea to kidnap a prince had gone wrong.

He had understood at the time, he had told her to think of herself and the baby - so she had testified against him in exchange for her own freedom and nothing had hurt more than doing that;_ nothing except for the time she wrote to him in jail and lied and told him she'd lost the baby..._

She _still_ hated herself for that.

But things had been different back then; her only living relative was her younger sister Violet who was doing considerably better at getting on with life than she was and Violet had invited her to stay, taken care of her too and when Elise had come along they had become a family, supporting each other and Vera had been glad of the help – even if she didn't get along with her sister, who was a difficult person at the best of times and had made up her mind long before Marv's arrest that he was just no good for her...

There had been many times when Vera had wanted to be there for Marv but she had held back; mainly because it just seemed better for Elise not to know her Daddy was in prison, and it seemed better for Marv not to be breaking his heart every time she left at the end of a visit.

And of course, it saved her the grief that Violet would have heaped on her if she'd even suspected for one minute that she still loved the guy...

_"What the hell do I do?"_ She said aloud, as her gaze wandered to the framed picture on her dressing table of her ten year old daughter who had the same honey colored hair that she did; that little girl also had Marv's eyes and as she looked at the picture her heart ached.

Elise knew nothing about her father. She didn't know that he had been sent to jail for twenty years for planning a kidnap.

But Marv had served only half his sentance and even less of that time had been spent in jail; most of his time had been spent first in the infirmary and then at a nearby hospital after he was seriously hurt in a fight. Vera had gone to see him several times while he was in a critical condition but he had been unaware of her visits.

She had stayed with him as long as she could, holding his hand while she spoke softly to him and then cried over the terrible injuries he'd suffered - _those injuries had been inflicted because word had got around that Marv was in jail for trying to kidnap a prince- not only a prince, but a_ _kid._..

Vera had never kept out of touch, she had always checked to find out how he was getting on. But once he was conscious again and starting to make a slow recovery, she stopped visiting. She knew that the injuries he'd suffered had been life threatening and the surgery he had to undergo to save his life had been done at her consent, but Marv had come out the other side of this a very different man. He had become severely depressed and tried to kill himself twice, and then had been sent to a mental hospital where he had stayed for the next few years.

But the place hadn't been as bad as she had imagined; he had received a lot of treatment and eventually returned to an open prison and ten years after his arrest, he was released from jail.

_And then he had called her..._

Hearing his voice made her feel like her heart was breaking all over again – and all she wanted to do was run.

Too much time had passed by; he didn't even know she had lied to him about the baby...

And deep down inside, there was another reason why she wanted to run: _She didn't want another quarrel with Violet, not with the kind of fights that Violet picked, and not in front of Elise, either..._

Vera checked the time.

Right now, Violet was at work and Elise was at school.

It was three days until school finished for summer... Vera thought of an idea and then quickly dismissed it: No, they couldn't go on vacation – they had no money to go any where - not unless Violet came too...

She gave another sigh and reached for her cell phone and called Violet.

"Hi Sis!" Violet said brightly, "What ever you want you'd better be fast – the shop's full of customers, honey."

Vera would have usually expressed surprise that her sister's new age store was so busy at any time of the day, but she didn't feel like making small talk, it was hard enough just to summon the courage to rattle off an excuse.

"I was thinking- maybe when schools finished for Elise we could go on vacation."

There was a pause, then she finally answered her.

"Where?"

"Anywhere, as long as we go soon."

"Vera, I don't have time for this – I'm busy. Talk later, okay?"

_"But Violet –"_

The call ended.

Vera got up and ran her fingers through her long hair, then she cast a glance around the room. She didn't know what to do; she didn't even know where to start. And she guessed even if they went away for a month, Marv would_ still_ be knocking on the door when they came back...

He had never assumed they were really over because she had never divorced him.

And she had left him her address and phone number many years ago purely because he had been so badly hurt at the time and she wanted to know if his condition changed – but that had been a _long_ time ago, she had no idea Marv would have just called her up like that out of the blue and said he wanted to see her, not after all these years...

Vera checked the time again.

It would be several hours before Violet got home and several hours too until she could go and pick up Elise from school.

Vera was sure she had never felt so trapped in all her life; here she was not knowing what to do and having no one to turn to, either...

She left the bedroom and walked down the hall, going into the kitchen where she planned to make a coffee and sit and watch the time tick by as she hoped to think up a solution to this problem before she picked Elise up from school.

Vera's thoughts were still on Marv as she made the coffee. Then she wondered how loud her sister would scream and shout at her when she found out she had spoken to him on the phone; those two had always hated each other, Violet had taken one look at Marv and told her to get him the hell out of her life because he was trouble; she had said that the first time she'd laid eyes on him...

She didn't want a heated quarrel in front of Elise; her little girl had already seen a few arguments with Mommy and Auntie Vi and that had been enough to scare her because Violet had a crazy temper.

_The back door was unlocked._

_Now it was slowly opening and Vera had just poured a hot coffee and she was standing there with her back to the opening door, unaware she had company because the only company she had right now was her own thoughts..._

_Then Vera turned around and those thoughts were torn away in an instant as she stared at the man who stood in the doorway._

He looked at her and managed a smile but his voice trembled as he spoke and tears glazed his eyes.

"_Vera,"_ He said tearfully, _"I...I just wanted to see you again, I'm a free man now –"_

And he held his harms out to her as he took a step forward.

"_I've missed you, pumpkin..."_

The china cup slipped from Vera's hands and hit the floor, shattering to tiny pieces.

* * *

As the fragments of china settled on the kitchen floor no other sound broke the silence as they looked at each other; Vera stood there with broken china at her feet as she stared at her husband: _Marv was here already? Of course he was – why had she thought it would take him days to get back here, this was the first place he would want to be..._

Marv had seen the startled look in Vera's eyes and he wanted to speak up again and tell her he didn't mean to scare her but the words were stuck in his throat as he blinked away tears.

_"Why didn't you come and see me?"_

As he said that he had a look in his eyes like a wounded animal and those words cut deep.

"I did." She said quietly, "I _did,_ Marv! I saw you when you were hurt, when you were in the hospital! But afterwards you were so sick, so fragile – I didn't want to make you worse by coming to see you and leaving you again! I just wanted you to get better, honey."

As Marv blinked tears ran down his face.

"Well if you love me you had a funny way of showing it! _My heart was broken every day I never heard from you!_"

And tiny pieces of broken china crushed under the weight of his leather shoes as he stepped closer to her.

Vera was still looking into his eyes and she saw no anger there; the only emotion she saw in his eyes was heartbreak and she wanted so much to put it right because she regretted so much but she didn't know where to start.

He was right in front of her now, his hand shook as he gently touched her face and the feel of his touch was so warm and soft she didn't want to push him away.

"I did what you told me to do." She whispered, "I turned my back on you - I didn't _want_ to, but I _had_ to."

"I know."

Then Vera gave a sob.

_"I'm so sorry, Marv, I'm so sorry!"_

Marv held her tightly in his arms as she sobbed.

"Oh no, don't cry, I didn't want to make you cry, Vera!"

And he pulled back a little and smiled through his own tears.

"I still love you, I want us to start again – don't say anything, just hear me out – I'm through with crime. I can't handle doing the time; I can't go through the shit I've been through a second time. You can _trust_ me, pumpkin! I never stopped loving you and I know you love me too, I can see it in your eyes –"

_"Marv."_

He had been intent on saying everything he had to say – but the tone in her voice shut him up right away; Vera was looking at him with a very different expression in her eyes now, like there was something he needed to know...

His dark blue eyes widened as he looked back at her.

"What's happened, what's happened since I've been gone?"

Words failed her for a moment and then panic crept into Marv's voice.

_"What's wrong? Don't just stand there looking at me like the sky's about to come crashing down on us, what's wrong?"_

She tried to find the right words but he was gripping her shoulders and his eyes were fixed on her and she tried to work slowly around the subject because she knew for sure if she came out and said it directly, he wouldn't understand her anyway because she would be sobbing and crying too much.

"It was after you got sentenced thought you wouldn't be able to survive in jail and you almost didn't, Marv! I was trying to protect you, I thought you'd feel even worse stuck in there if you knew – I thought you'd be in there forever and missing us!"

All his tears at their reunion had dried up as confusion took over.

_"Knew what?"_ He said suspiciously.

Then he thought about the rest of what she had just said.

"Us? Missing who, you and your_ poison sister?_ Why the fuck would I miss her, she hated my guts! I missed you – I know you know that but no, not anyone else – _not her!_"

Vera took in a shaky breath as she looked into Marv's eyes.

_"I never meant to hurt you, baby! But you were so fragile, you were so screwed up, everything was such a mess..."_

She turned away but he gripped her harder and turned her back to face him." Vera –"

_"I can't..."_ She said tearfully, _"Oh shit what have done?"_

She struggled as he held her and he said her name again.

He didn't let her go but his voice was softer now.

"Listen pumpkin," He said, trying to stay calm when it was the last thing he wanted to do, "I'm not mad at you, I don't care what it is you're trying to tell me – just tell me okay? _Talk_ to me."

And he stopped holding her so tightly and his touch became gentle as he kept his gaze locked on to hers.

"What is it? What's the matter, Vera? You can tell me – you know what my motto is: _be prepared._..I'm ready for anything, tell me what's wrong."

Vera drew in a breath and forced the words out.

_"She's called Elise. She's at school right now but I'm picking her up in a couple of hours and she doesn't know you're –"_

Marv jumped to the wrong conclusion as he looked at her in surprise.

"You still live with Violet?"

Vera frowned and nodded, wondering what Violet had to do with anything.

"Well I am surprised, surprised _and_ shocked – are you seriously telling me there's a _kid_ in the house? Are you telling me that some poor bastard got screwed by your nasty little sister and he got her pregnant? Who the hell would be crazy enough to stick around Vi long enough to give her a kid? The guy must have been insane – I'll bet he's been gone a long time, too!"

Vera shook her head.

_"No Marv."_ She said quietly, _"She's not Vi's kid. She's mine - she's yours too. I lied, I lied about the miscarriage. I'm sorry; I thought I was protecting you I didn't think you could cope with being locked up away from me and our baby!"_

Marv let go of her as he stared at her and words failed him.

"You...you.._.lied_ about it?" He said as the shock started to hit him.

_"Sorry."_ She whispered,_"Oh baby I am so, so sorry! I didn't know what to do for the best, I just didn't –"_

Vera gave a gasp as he grabbed her and pulled her tight against him.

She wondered if he was about to lose his temper but there was no anger in his eyes, only tears and as he held her he thought about what she had just told him;_ he didn't blame her for lying at all, not after he'd been locked up..._

As he held her he reached up and stroked her face, brushing a tear from her cheek. "You had my baby?"

A look of love and pride began to shine in his eyes as he smiled.

_"My baby? We have a kid?"_

Vera nodded and as she looked back at him love reflected in her eyes too.

_"She's called Elise, she's ten years old and Marv she's so beautiful, I see you every time I look at her face!"_

More tears had filled his eyes but he didn't care as he pulled her closer and kissed her.

Vera clung to him, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair as she let the kiss deepen.

As he lifted her up they were both still crying but kissing deeply and Vera wrapped her legs around his waist and wanted nothing more but to touch him again, to remember how it felt to be in his arms- and right now it seemed as if the years they had spent apart had fallen away.

_"Not in here..."_

She was breathless as she pulled back from his kiss.

"I've been locked up for ten years!" Marv said as her back hit the wall, "I can't wait a minute longer, Vera..."

And she saw desire in his eyes and then she reached for him again.

She held on to him, trying between taking gasps of air to tell him to slow down, but ten years had been a long time to wait and he wasn't going to waste another second.

She kissed him and ran her fingers through is hair between breathless gasps and tears that stung her eyes.

_"I know you still love me." _He said as he moved against her,_ "You do, admit it, pumpkin – say the words to me...let me hear you say it..."_

She dragged in some more air as her back jarred against the wall again and again

_"Yes I love you!"_

And Marv almost dropped her as he gave a gasp of pleasure that was so intense he forgot where he was and how he was holding her; Vera slipped a little but clung to him and kept her legs wrapped around him as he pressed his face against her shoulder and breathed heavy against her.

He was still breathless as he carefully lowered her back to the floor.

"I'm sorry that was so fast," He told her, "But I've missed you, Vera!"

"I've missed you too."

Vera straightened up her skirt and snatched her underwear up from the floor.

"I have to pick up Elise from school in a couple of hours. And Violets back around five."

Marv was still getting his breath back.

He was perspiring and he ran his fingers through his damp hair as he felt sure his heart was still pounding from their lovemaking: _it had been a long time, far too long..._

Then he smiled.

_"I'm coming with you. I want to meet my daughter."_

Vera stared at him.

Marv was standing there looking and sounding just like the guy she used to know, except that he was older and slightly heavier now - and obviously a little _more_ crazy than she had assumed, if he thought he could just walk up to his daughter and say_ Hi_ to her after all these years...

"But she doesn't know anything about you!"

"So tell her. We'll tell her together, how does that sound?"

Marv's eyes were sparkling with the kind of enthusiasm that made her nervous; he was getting into one of those moods where he had an idea to do something and no one and nothing would change his mind...

"She doesn't know you. I haven't told her anything about you. She knows her Dad's called Marv and he went away when I was pregnant. I didn't tell her anything else!"

Then the sparkle faded from Marv's eyes as he thought about Violet.

"And I'll bet she's asked questions about me. And if you didn't tell her anything I'm sure Vi was only too happy to fill in the gaps for her!"

Vera felt a twinge of guilt.

"I only lived here with her because I had nowhere else to go with Elise! I don't know why she hates you so much – I always told her you weren't as bad as she thought, but she just seemed to hate you from the moment she laid eyes on you."

Marv fell silent for a moment as he thought back to the days before he had been arrested and put in jail:

Vera didn't know as much as she thought she did:

_Vi hadn't always hated him. _

_She'd always been difficult to get along with, but she had only hated him later on, after a stupid drunken night that he would regret for the rest of his life, the same reason his arms were scarred with cuts that Vera had assumed were down to depression when he first got locked up – no, it went deeper than that and if he could be honest about it he would have told her he was terrified of the moment when Vi walked through the door, but that was something he could never explain to anyone..._

"Has she said anything about me to Elise?" He said quietly.

Vera shook her head.

Marv looked back at her doubtfully as tears stung his eyes again.

"Please, honey – if she's said bad stuff about me I need to know."

"She hasn't said anything, Marv! She wouldn't do that! I wouldn't forgive her if she did and she knows that!"

He searched her face for any hint that she might be hiding something but all he saw was honesty reflected in her eyes.

"Okay, sorry I said that. How about if I wait here and you can bring Elise home – and on the way maybe you can tell her all about me?"

Vera thought about the traumatic time he'd spent locked up for ten years.

"I'll tell her_ some_ things – not all of it, she's only_ ten!_"

And Marv nodded.

"Okay, that sounds good to me, I'll just wait here while you go and pick her up from school."

Vera was still thinking about it.

"This is happening too fast." She said, "First you and me being together again - now you want me to tell Elise... what about Vi –"

He looked hard at her, his dark blue eyes held her in his gaze and he spoke from his heart.

"After what we just shared you can't deny you love me! You said so, Vera! Is this gonna be how it was years ago, with you too scared of your family to put me first? I haven't forgotten what happened on our wedding day –"

"That's not fair!"

"Yes it is, Vera! It's _very_ fair, it's relevant - you almost stood me up! You almost left me standing at the church waiting for you because your family didn't want you to marry a guy who had just come out of jail!"

"But I got there in the end, didn't I?"

Vera put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

She knew she couldn't have lied to him even if she had wanted to; _there was no room for lies, there never had been – they both knew how they felt and time had not changed a single thing..._

"When you called me I didn't know if I should stay here or run away." Vera told him, "But I knew for sure once I looked into your eyes I'd never want us to be apart again. But we can't do anything about it- if Vi kicks me and Elise out, what then? We're_ all_ in the shit and I don't want my daughter having any shit happen in her life because of us!"

And Marv smiled a knowing smile.

Vera's eyes clouded with confusion.

"What's so funny? What the hell could be funny about what I just said?"

Marv reached into his jacket and took out some paperwork.

He unfolded it in front of her eyes and as Vera looked at it, her confusion melted and she started to smile.

"How did...how could you have...Marv, are you telling me this place is yours?"

As she said those words she was looking at the picture of the old house, it looked like it needed work doing to it but was big, it was set in the middle of a lot of land and that photo was attached to the paperwork that went with the ownership of the house – and that house, according to the paperwork, was Marv's property now...

"It's not mine." Marv said as he put the paperwork on the table, "It's _ours_, pumpkin!"

Vera stared at him for a moment as she thought about it..._Marv, who had never given her any kid of security, the same guy who had been locked away for ten years had managed to buy a house?_

"It was going cheap." He told her, "And I got a fair bit of compensation when I sued the guy who assaulted me in jail a few years back. They paid me for damages, it can't wipe out what happened but it can sure make our lives easier now –if you'll come with me, if you want us to start again. Please, Vera? Say something..."

Vera started to smile.

She slid her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

"I'll do it. I'll try and start again with you."

And then she made a confession.

_"I never wanted to walk away from you."_

And as she cried he held her and stroked her hair.

"It's okay now," He whispered, "I can put things right now; we can have the kind of life I should have given you right from the start..."

Then he kissed her again and kept on kissing her until those kisses led them both into a tighter embrace that only broke for the time it took to cross the hallway and go into the bedroom, this time their reunion was not rushed; this time as they lay together they shared slow kisses and gentle caresses.

When Vera pushed open his shirt and made a move to slip it off, Marv grew tense and gently pushed her hands away from the fabric.

"I think I'll keep it on." He said quickly, "I don't want to show you –"

"I know what to expect." She replied, sliding his shirt off his body.

But as she ran her hands down his arms and saw the scars, she blinked away tears.

"I lost count of how many times I got a phone call to say you'd cut yourself again." She said as her voice choked up and she ran her fingers down the deep cuts that scarred his arms, "Why did you do it, baby?"

Marv looked at her nervously and shook his head.

"Who knows? Prison made me go crazy; I think that's why I did it."

He took in a sharp breath as memories too painful to share even with his wife came back to haunt him.

"I don't want to think about that any more."

Vera kissed him again and pulled him closer and then all conversation was over as Marv gently made love to Vera all over again, and this time he took his time and she felt like she never wanted to let him go again.

* * *

Much later, after feeling like it hurt to tear herself from his embrace, Vera was out of bed and getting dressed as Marv leaned back on the soft pillows and smiled at her.

"I've forgotten how good it feels to make love." He told her, "You wouldn't understand, Vera- but it's just not the same using your hand every night –"

Vera had been brushing her hair in front of the mirror.

She put the brush down and laughed.

"Well I kind of guessed that would be your only option at the time, honey!"

Marv glanced at the time.

"I'll have a shower and tidy myself up. What time will you be back with Elise?"

"I'll be gone for half an hour." She replied, "And Marv, remember – _don't_ get all emotional when you see Elise. I know it's hard not to want to cry and grab hold of her – but she doesn't know you, honey."

Marv's eyes widened in surprise.

"I won't overwhelm her, Vera! I'm not stupid!"

And he sat up in bed and kissed her goodbye.

"I know what to do," He promised her, "I'll be cool about everything."

Vera had reached the door.

She glanced back at him doubtfully.

"You'd better be," She told him,"You'll need to keep it together, especially when Vi realizes you're back."

And then Vera left.

As she closed the front door the sound seemed to jar through his body as he tried to push thoughts of Vera's younger sister from his mind; she was someone who would haunt him forever and even though ten years had gone by, time made no difference:

_Vera had no idea how much he was dreading the moment he met her sister again..._

* * *

A short while later, Vera had picked up her daughter from school and was driving home again.

"Mom," Elise said for the third time, "Who is he? Who is this friend you want me to meet?"

Vera was still watching the road but she smiled as they drove along.

"Well, I've known him for many years..."

Vera had to pull back on her emotions now because she felt an ache in her heart as she thought about everything that had happened over the years, and then she thought about how it had felt to be forced to sit back and be powerless to help while he got hurt, while he went crazy, while all she wanted to do was hold him in her arms and take him home and make everything right. Years of denying how she felt had hurt and she had only done it to keep a roof over her head for her daughter's sake – _but Elise knew none of this._

"He's somebody I love very much." She told her, blinking as she forced back tears because she had no intention of driving with blurred vision, "He wants us to move into a new home with him, it's not around here but you should see the place, Elise! It's a nice old house and its out in the countryside and it's so beautiful."

"What about Auntie Vi?"

Vera glanced briefly at her daughter.

Her eyes were the same shade of blue as Marv's and she twisted a long strand of honey colored hair around her finger as she looked back at her Mom.

"We can't just leave her! I know you two fight sometimes but she is part of our family..."

Vera turned her attention back to the road.

"We'll work something out." She promised her, "Maybe she can come and visit us."

"But I didn't even know you had a boyfriend."

"I don't." Vera replied quietly, "I have a husband."

Then the car stopped and the journey was over and Vera got out of the car followed by her daughter, they walked up to the front door together and Vera took her house keys from her purse.

As she opened the front door, she didn't notice another car pulling up outside – _Vi had finished work early that day..._

* * *

Elise was still asking questions as they walked in through the door.

Then Elise stopped talking and stood in the hallway staring at the man who had just stepped out of the front room.

"Hi." He said softly.

"This is my friend." Vera said carefully.

_"Friend?"_ Marv exclaimed.

He rushed forward before Vera could say another word.

Elise looked at him with startled eyes as he held out his arms to her.

"I'm _not_ Mommy's friend!" He insisted, _"I'm much more than that –"_

"Marv!"

He didn't hear the warning tone in Vera's voice because his eyes were blurred with tears and his heart was pounding and all he could think about were the years he had lost as he grabbed hold of his daughter and hugged her.

_"I'm your Daddy!"_ He sobbed, _"You're my little girl, I've missed you so much –"_

_"Get off me!"_ Elise shrieked, pushing him away as she looked up at her mother.

"Who is he, Mom?" She demanded.

Marv was still crying as he reached for her again and Elise grabbed hold of her Mom's hand and clung to it tightly.

"Honey, don't be scared!" Vera said to her, "I told him not to get upset, but he can't help it, he's missed you – he's your father!"

_"Oh no. No fucking way!"_ Snapped Vi sharply.

Marv had given up reaching for the child who was clinging to her mother and got up, staring at the tall, slender woman with darker hair and eyes than Vera who was glaring at him.

_"Get out!"_ She yelled.

And Marv flinched at her sharp tone but stayed put, looking to Vera for help.

"Leave him alone." Vera said, "You don't know what's going on, let me explain, Vi."

But Violet had already reached her own conclusion.

"I get it," She said bitterly, "You wait for this jerk to come out of jail and then you run off with him again! Is that what you planned all the long, Vera? Because if you did, I really pity your daughter."

And she looked at Elise, who was startled and confused as she held onto her mother's hand.

Vera's cat-like eyes narrowed.

_"Shut up, Vi... I won't warn you again –"_

But Violet said it anyway.

_"You see that guy standing there? He's your father. He's your loser no good jail bird father! Ask Mommy why he was locked up for ten years – and ask her where he was locked up, too..."_

As rage fired up in Vera's eyes she remembered just in time that her daughter was right beside her and now wasn't agreed time to start a fight.

"Let's just go inside and talk, all of us together."

Marv stared at her.

"You want _me_ to be in the same room as_ Vi?_ She _hates_ me, Vera!"

"Let's just do this for our daughter's sake?"

Vera looked down at Elise, who was still clinging to her hand.

"Let's go and sit down and talk about everything, honey."

Elise looked at Marv.

"Are you really my Dad?" She asked him.

That question made his eyes glaze with tears again.

"Sadly, unfortunately, _yes he is_." Violet stated.

_"Stop it!"_ Vera said sharply.

But Elise was still looking at Marv.

He stepped closer and nodded.

"I'm definitely your father. I'm sorry if I scared you but I've never seen you before, honey. I only found out about you today and all I wanted to do was hug you."

Elise looked up at him and now there was no trace of alarm in her eyes.

"I think Mom's right." She said, "We should sit down and talk about everything. And when I get to know you, I_ might_ hug you, okay?"

Marv managed a smile even though he still felt tearful.

"That sounds good to me." He said.

And Vera breathed a sigh of relief as Marv went through to the front room and she followed with their daughter.

Then Elise stopped and turned back, looking at her Auntie Vi.

"Don't you want to come and sit down with us and talk?" She wondered.

_"Not with him, no I don't."_ She said resentfully, _"But I'll do it for you, Elise..."_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_The dust was beginning to settle._

It was starting to settle on the harsh words that had been exchanged when Violet had walked through the door but that dust hadn't quite settled properly yet; it seemed as if it still shifted about unseen, like someone had shaken the sands of time and instead of falling gracefully like it might flow through an hourglass, instead an almighty storm had blown up inside and those sands were still whirling about, shaking up all of their lives.

Vera was on the couch next to her daughter and Marv was sitting on the other sofa.

There was also a table over in the corner and Violet had pulled up a chair in that corner because it was the furthest she could sit away from Marv.

Vera had talked about the house and Marv had shown them the paperwork.

Violet's gaze had lingered on the picture of the property and then she had fallen silent.

Marv glanced over at her and she gave him a frosty look and right about then he realized his arm was itching. As he scratched it he quickly stopped and pulled down his rolled up shirt sleeve, not wanting Violet or his daughter to see the scars on his arms.

"...So that's what we are thinking about trying out." Vera said to her sister, "I don't know if it's going to work but we both want to try and we have nothing to lose by moving in together in this new place for a few weeks. If it doesn't work I'll be the first to say I was wrong and you're right, okay?"

_Violet just looked back at her and said nothing._

The look she gave her made Vera feel guilty; it was like she was trying to make her feel as if she was a terrible person for doing this, as if to go back to Marv would be the _worst_ thing she could ever do...

"And Elise still has a couple of days before the end of school." She added, "We've got time to get used to this and think about how things are going to change."

Then Vi spoke up.

_"He walks back in here and you throw yourself at him? How could you do that after all this time, Vera? You swore to me that you were through with that waste of space!"_

Marv felt her words sharply but gave no reaction, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor so that he didn't have to look in her eyes and let her see that she still had the power to make him feel bad about himself.

_"Don't start again."_

Vera had spoken in a low voice and the threat was veiled but her sister got it; there was no changing her mind and if she tried, there would be trouble...

Then Elise looked over at her father.

She noticed he seemed nervous and even though he had just pulled down his shirt sleeve, he was _still_ scratching his arm and she wasn't sure why. He glanced at her Auntie Vi who looked away and then she caught his attention.

"I want to ask you something."

"Ask me anything, I'll tell you the truth" He promised her.

And Vera shot him a warning glance as she hoped he wouldn't screw up again.

"Do it _carefully_." She reminded him as she watched him with narrowed, cat-like eyes, ready to grab her daughter and take her out of the room the minute he forgot her age and said way too much about the terrible things he'd been through over the last ten years...

Marv felt like his nerves were jangling as he looked back at his daughter.

"What do you want to know about me, honey?"

Elise had many questions but she started with the one that was at the top of her list and always had been:

"Why did you leave my Mom before I was born?"

Marv glanced at Vera and she nodded, hoping he understood it was okay to tell her some of it...

"I was..." Marv ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes for a moment as he gave a heavy sigh:

_This was difficult. He was sure he never would have become a criminal all those years ago if he had known this day would come, when he would be sitting here with a daughter he had never seen before, explaining why Daddy had never been around..._

He looked back at his daughter and still couldn't find the right words.

Vera could tell he was struggling so she spoke up.

"Your Dad did a stupid thing ten years ago and he went to jail for it, Elise. I was with him, I could have gone to jail too but it didn't work out that way."

Elise stared at her mother and then looked back at Marv.

"Really?"

Marv nodded.

"I was a thief back in the old days. I used to make money from housebreaking. Not a lot of money, and I got caught more times than I got away with it. But I had this plan to break into this mansion because the lady who lived there had some wealthy visitors coming to stay for Christmas, they were royalty. I was planning on kidnapping one of them for the ransom money. But it didn't get that far, it went wrong and I got arrested and I went to jail for a long time."

And as he explained everything he felt Violet's eyes burning into him and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat and turned away slightly, just so he couldn't see her glaring at him.

"And I'm not like that any more, Elise. I _don't_ break the law these days. I learned my lesson, I did my time, I've paid for what I did. Your Mom's willing to let me prove that and I hope you will too."

He knew he sounded like he was begging for her understanding, but the look in her eyes gave no clue as to how she was feeling about everything; Elise just took it all in and thought some more.

"How long were you in jail?" She asked him, "Was it scary?"

Marv looked into her eyes.

"Yes it was, honey. It was a very scary place to be. I wasn't in jail very long, I-"

Vera shot him a warning glance and slowly shook her head.

Marv quickly thought of a way to tell her the rest with out telling her the kind of stuff that would give her bad dreams.

"I got hurt very badly while I was in jail." He told her, "I...had an accident. After that I was in the hospital for a long time, it took me months to get over it. I don't think I did get over it, not really. I had a breakdown and I had to go to another kind of hospital. I mean the kind where prisoners go. But they looked after me and I got better and eventually they said I could go free and here I am."

Elise looked at him thoughtfully.

"How come you had such a bad accident?"

And Marv looked to Vera for help; _He knew he couldn't tell her the truth until she was older, there was no way he was going to say a couple of guys had heard he'd tried to kidnap a kid and they'd beat him so badly they'd almost killed him..._

"Daddy..._fell over._" Vera said quietly.

"Yes, that's what happened." Marv told his daughter, "I fell over."

Elise was staring at him. "How come you hurt yourself so badly?"

Marv didn't like to think about it, even mentioning that day was painful.

"I hit my head really hard... _several_ _times_..._on a concrete floor._"

"Not hard enough."Violet murmured.

Then Vera shot her a murderous look.

"What?" Violet demanded.

"Say that again."

"I said, _that must have been rough_." Violet replied, then she looked away because she knew for sure if Elise hadn't been in the house there would have been a huge fight starting right about now.

Elise hadn't noticed the exchange of words between her mother and her aunt. She was still looking at her father and she had noticed he looked like he was upset, like he was about to start crying...

"I'm glad you're okay now." She said quietly, "Because if you'd died I never would have got to meet you. I always wanted a Dad and I'm glad you're here now."

"Thanks." He said as he blinked back tears, "That means a lot."

And then Elise got up from the couch and walked over to him.

"Dad?" She said gently, noticing he still looked tearful, "You know how I said I might hug you? Well I think I want to give you that hug now. Would you like that?"

Marv was too choked up to speak as he nodded his head.

Elise put her arms around him and he sobbed quietly as his daughter embraced him for the first time.

"It's okay," She said to her father, "Don't cry, Dad..."

Then Violet gave a sigh and muttered something Vera didn't catch.

As Vera shot her another icy look, her sister got up and left the room.

For a split second Vera considered following her, going into another room away from Marv and Elise and telling her exactly what she thought of her spiteful remarks - _but suddenly Violet didn't matter any more, because Marv and Elise were hugging and Marv's tears were stopping and as she saw the way they smiled at each other, there was no cruel remark that Vi could have made that could have even come close to spoiling the moment –at last, her family was coming back together again, the way it always should have been..._

* * *

Much later, Vera stood in her daughter's bedroom doorway with a smile on her face as she watched Marv reading to Elise.

Then Elise took the book and read some more of it and Marv laughed.

"I told you to leave that bit out –I hate the scary parts!" He said and as he laughed so did Vera, then they glanced at each other and as love shone from his eyes as he looked at his wife, they had no idea that they were being watched.

Vi was in her bedroom, peering through a crack in the door, watching this scene unfold of Marv playing happy families with her sister.

She felt a sharp spike of anger as she heard him laugh again:

_Things should have been so different, that was the only thought that ran through her mind..._

Then she closed the door and sat down on the bed and thought about how things stood:

_She didn't want to lose her sister over this._

And Vera and Elise would be leaving with Marv no matter what she said – she _couldn't_ change that.

_But she could make sure the two of them didn't work out..._

She pushed aside thoughts of the quarrels she would be causing in the near future and opened up her laptop and started to check out the address of Marv's new house.

As soon as she put the address into the search engine and the results began to come up, Violet slowly shook her head.

She followed a link and began to read and then she shook her head again as she thought about how desperate Marv must have been to win Vera back:

_The address had been easy to find because it had quite a history. _

_Back in the early 1970s a family by the name of Montgomery had all died in that house – the father had suffered severe depression and one night decided to end it all, and take his family with him, shooting dead his wife and daughter and then turning the gun on himself... after that the house had gone to the late Mrs Montgomery's mother, who had lived there until her death in recent times - that house had been shut up for a few years, it had been taken on and off the market several times by who ever had owned it after the old woman died- it had just stayed empty and boarded up because no one wanted to live in a murder house..._

_No one, except for Marv, who was so desperate to win Vera back he didn't care what kind of history the place had._

Violet felt her anger rising as she thought about her brother in law:

_He didn't care that he would be sleeping with Vera in a room where a man had killed his wife with a shot gun? _

_And what about Elise, sleeping in a room that belonged to a little girl close to her own age who had been murdered in her sleep?_

"You son of a bitch," She murmured as she thought about Marv, "You've _really_ got it coming to you now..."

* * *

Next morning Marv woke up in a warm, soft bed and he knew Vera's arms were around him.

Knowing all these things reminded him he was definitely a free man now –not only free, but back where he needed to be – with his family.

Vera was still asleep and he watched her as she lay there beside him, eyes closed and dreaming.

_"I love you, pumpkin."_ He whispered as he stroked a lock of her hair, _"You don't know how much I love you..."_

And as he whispered those words he thought about the reason they were moving into that big house in two day's time.

"I'd do _anything_ for you, anything to keep you by my side," He said quietly, _"All that matters now is you and Elise."_

And Vera slowly opened her eyes.

She looked up at him and smiled.

"Morning honey." She murmured, then she turned on her side and held him close and dozed off again.

Marv started to stroke her hair and then her face.

"Hey Vera, wake up...wake up, pumpkin...I _need_ something..."

And he heard Vera give a sigh.

"I guess some things never change." She murmured, then she slid under the covers and began to kiss slowly down his body in a way that made him ache for her.

Then the door burst open and Vera came up from under the covers and Marv pulled the covers up a little more, giving a sigh of frustration as Elise came bounding into the room.

"That was bad timing." He said quietly.

"Get used to it." Vera whispered, "You're a father now!"

The bed bounced as Elise sat down on the edge of it.

"I'm _so_ excited!" She exclaimed, "Two more days and..." She thought about it.

"Are we leaving on Friday when I finish school?"

"No," Marv told her, "We're leaving on Saturday because it's a long drive and we want to get there in the afternoon, not the middle of the night."

Elise got up again.

"Will you drive me to school today?"

As Vera saw the look of surprise on Marv's face, she felt warm in her heart.

"I'd_ love_ to take you to school!" Marv said to her.

"Okay," Elise told him, "I'm getting ready and then I'm having breakfast. I need you to be in the car at eight thirty. _Don't_ be late because I'm _never_ late for school."

And then she left the room again.

Marv looked at Vera and his eyes lit up as he smiled.

"I'm taking my daughter to school!" He said proudly.

* * *

A short while later, as Marv and Vera were getting up and sharing a shower, Elise was already up and having breakfast.

Violet sat at the table and watched her finish her cereal and then she smiled.

"I guess you know me and your Dad don't get along." She said, "It's a long story why we don't like each other – but you know I wouldn't hate him for no reason, don't you?"

And Elise slowly drank her glass of milk and then put the glass down on the table.

"Why don't you like him?" She asked her.

"We had a big quarrel once." She told her, "It was over something that was his fault. He didn't remember what happened because he was drunk at the time. But_ I_ remember."

Then she shook her head.

"Forget I said it – you wouldn't understand, not at your age. Let's just say he was _very_ different to the guy you know as your Dad; a few years ago Marv wasn't a very nice man at all."

And then she glanced towards the door, listening just to be sure no one else could hear, then she dropped her voice to a whisper.

"You don't really know him yet, do you?"

And Elise frowned as she shook her head, looking at her Auntie Vi with confusion in her eyes.

"Well you need to remember what you call a person when you don't know them very well, Elise."

"What do you mean?"

"Your Dad has been gone a long time." She said in a low voice, "And now he's back, you don't know him very well. That makes him a _stranger_, doesn't it?"

The chair scraped back loudly as Elise got up.

Her eyes narrowed and for a moment she reminded Violet of a mini version of her mother.

"I don't care why you hate my Dad! I_ know_ you upset my Mom when you say bad things about him!"

"But I wouldn't lie to you." Elise said to her, "He's not a nice man, honey."

Then she saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes and as Marv called her name and said he was ready to leave, Elise grabbed her school bag and walked out without saying another word. And Violet smiled to herself; this wasn't her _only_ plan to wreck Marv's plans for a happy life with his family – _she had a lot more stored up, this was only the start..._

* * *

On the way to school, Marv noticed Elise was suddenly quiet.

"What's the matter?" He wondered as they drove along.

Elise met his gaze briefly and then looked back at the window as she watched the world go by.

"Nothing...it's just Auntie Vi. I don't want you to get upset but she's been saying mean things about you again."

Marv felt a jolt on hearing those words; he was sure he was shaking even if it didn't show; he felt like he was shaking inside.

He was breaking out into a light sweat as he spoke again.

"_What_ did she say about me, honey?"

And he glanced at his daughter.

Elise met his gaze.

"She said I don't know you, she said you're a stranger. And she said she doesn't like you because of something you did, but she didn't tell me what it was. Why _did_ you fall out with her, Dad?"

And Marv gripped the wheel a little harder as he felt himself start to get rattled by what she had said..._ Vi had been telling his daughter this shit? That was the last thing he needed to hear..._

"I didn't do anything."" He promised her, "I've never done anything to upset Vi –I _know_ myself, I would have remembered!"

"Remembered what?" Elise wondered.

Marv took in a sharp breath and focussed on the road ahead remembering Elise was far too young to know any of the facts.

"Don't worry about me and Vi. We've never got along - and I think she's jealous because I've got such a nice house and she's got that tiny little apartment. That's what it is, she's jealous. Ignore her when she says bad things, okay?"

And Elise nodded.

"Okay." She said quietly.

Marv took his attention from the road briefly as he looked at his daughter again.

"You believe me, don't you? Do you think I'm a nasty guy? Because I'm not, I don't think I've ever really been a bad guy, Elise. _Please_ don't listen to anything Vi says. She just doesn't like me. Will you remember that?"

"Sure I will." She promised him, "Don't worry about it, Dad."

And then she reached over and gently patted his arm.

"Everything's okay." She reminded him.

They pulled up outside the school and Elise got out of the car.

"See you after school, Dad." She said, then she smiled, turned away and walked through the gates where she started to hurry to catch up with some of her friends.

* * *

Marv drove off and headed for home still feeling shaken up by what Vi had said to his daughter:

He had suddenly become aware that if Vi said enough, she could cost him everything, his daughter, Vera..._ would she really go that far?_

The scars on his arms were itching again but he couldn't scratch while he was driving, that itch just served to remind him of all the things that haunted him – all the unanswered questions, all the things he could never be sure about...

_"Stop it!"_ He said aloud as he gripped the wheel,_ "Forget Vi, she's a liar...she's a fucking liar!"_

* * *

"Where are you going?" Vera said quietly as she stood in the hallway and watched her sister grab her car keys.

"I'm going to work." She replied.

Vera grabbed her wrist and slammed it on the table and the keys flew from Vi's grasp as she gave a cry of pain.

She made a move to pull free from Vera's grip but Vera had her younger sister held tight in a grip of iron that was made all the stronger by rage; that same rage burned in her eyes as she looked at her.

_"Let's get one thing clear."_ She said coldly, "I _love_ Marv. I don't care what you think of him – your opinion doesn't mean shit to me! I know you hate him and if you don't keep it to yourself and stop hurting his feelings-"

"Hurting his feelings?" She echoed, "Why don't you see him for what he is, Vera? He's a loser and he always will be!"

And she ripped free from her grasp and lunged at her.

Vera was to fast, catching both her arms and holding her firmly, digging her fingers into her arms knowing there would be bruises when she finally let go.

_"I love that man."_ She hissed as she leaned closer to her face, "I_ know_ he screwed up, I _know_ he did a stupid thing and he went to jail for it._ He went to jail and some vicious fucker almost beat him to death!_ He was fragile before he went to jail. He was a total mess after that! You _didn't_ see him when he had the skull fracture, when he was critical. You_ didn't_ see him after he cut his wrists and you _didn't_ see him when they had to lock him in the psychiatric hospital! You don't know how much he's been through – so don't you_ ever_ hurt his feelings again, _don't_ make him unhappy, _don't_ make him cry_ - don't hurt him in any way_ _or I'll knock your fucking teeth out, have you got that?_"

Then Vera shoved her against the wall and let go of her sharply.

Violet stared at her; it was rare to see Vera get this fired up...

"I said, _HAVE YOU GOT THAT, VI?_" She yelled.

Violet nodded.

_"Sorry."_ She whispered, then she looked away from the rage that burned in Vera's eyes.

The door opened and Marv came in.

Vi grabbed her keys, rubbed her throbbing wrist and walked out the door, slamming it loudly.

Marv saw the look on Vera's face and guessed what had happened.

"I hope that quarrel wasn't about me." He said nervously.

The rage left Vera's eyes at once and her voice softened.

"No honey, she was just being her usual pain in the ass self, forget about it."

But as he looked back at her Vera saw a flicker of fear in his eyes that reminded her of the way she had once seen him when she had gone to visit him after he had tried to kill himself when he was in jail; he was still the same man, still emotionally fragile and it didn't take much to bring that out...

"It was about _me,_ I know it, I can tell." He said as he started to get tense, "She_ hates_ me – she'd do _anything_ to break us up if she could!"

Vera put her arms around him and held him close.

"Marv, "She said sweetly," Do you really think I'd let Vi get away with that? I know her; I know what she's like!"

And she gave him a hug.

He heard her promise everything would be fine, but as he held her she didn't know her words did nothing to reassure him – _she thought she knew all about Vi but she didn't... that woman still had the power to destroy everything even if Vera didn't know it..._

* * *

Thoughts of Vi and the past still flickered through his mind even after Vera had led him through to the bedroom and kissed him as they sat down together on the bed.

She had started to unbutton his shirt and this time he didn't care about his scars as he welcomed her embrace, feeling warm and alive once more with all thoughts of the past gone as his flesh felt warm against hers.

He rolled her over on her back and she breathed out deeply, reaching for him as her arms slid over his shoulders.

"I love you, Marv." She whispered as she looked into his eyes.

"I love you too, pumpkin." He said softly, returning her kisses and feeling his whole body fire up with the kind of desire that made him want to think of nothing but this moment, of making love to his wife...

_And then the past flashed through his mind like pieces of a broken film and he saw it again, going back more than ten years ago, before he had ever thought of breaking into Natalie's mansion to kidnap the prince:_

_He had been over to visit Vera. _Her parents were still alive back then and they were both out that day so when he found the door open and heard someone call out and tell him to come in he had done that; he had walked up the stairs and heard the water running and assumed Vera was in the bathroom.

He had a big smile on his face as he pushed the door open.

That smile had quickly vanished as he stared at the girl who stood next to the bath tub.

She was dripping wet and wrapped in a very small towel; it was Violet, Vera's younger sister.

Back then she had been no older than sixteen and she was looking at him in the way that he had come to dread, with an intense look in her eyes as she dropped the towel and stood there naked.

"_Wanna come in?" _She said sweetly,_ "The waters nice and warm, Marv..."_

He had turned away and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"_If you ever do that to me again I'll tell your sister!"_ He'd said, and tried to sound like he meant it.

_But if he'd told Vera, there would have been a huge quarrel over it and he had just kept his mouth shut..._

Then the scene changed:

_The day Vera moved in with him. _

_The day they threw the party... _

Violet had showed up and she had taken every opportunity get him on is own, rubbing his leg under the table, sliding her hand between his legs too...

He had told her over and over:_ Stop._

Then later, after too many drinks he had gone upstairs alone and passed out and suddenly he had opened his eyes to find Violet there on the bed with him, she was all over him, she was down on him and at first he had thought it was Vera until he opened his eyes and saw her face.

By then she was on top of him, kissing him, sliding her hands all over him and whispering that she loved him, she wanted him...

He had dreamed he was making love with Vera...

_And then he had woken up._

"_Get off me!" He had said sharply, giving her a shove._

_But she had grabbed hold of him and refused to let go._

"_Don't marry my sister." She had whispered, "I love you, Marv...come on, let's have some fun..."_

_She had touched him again and all he felt was anger._

_The rest was a blank..._

* * *

Marv held Vera tighter as he kissed her again and pushed away memories of the past.

He remembered that right now, nothing mattered but his wife - and the memories from so long ago had no power to hurt him any more.

_"Make love to me, baby."_ Vera murmured in his ear.

And then the memory flashed through his mind again, this time it was sharp, it was vivid and he felt like he was back there, in the morning, with a hangover from hell as he went to the van to fetch his cell phone:

_Violet was standing right behind him and as he turned around, he almost bumped into her._

_She looked at him with anger in her eyes. _

_She had a livid bruise across her right cheek and her bottom lip was cut and swollen._

"_What happened to you?" He asked her as his head throbbed and he recalled how she had come on to him and tried to force him to cheat on Vera._

_What she said next had shattered him._

"_You did this." She said bitterly, "Right before you raped me..."_

The flashback was gone now but Marv caught his breath and sat up sharply, pushing Vera way.

She stared at him as she sat up too and saw the scared look on his face.

"What's the matter, Marv?"

She reached out to touch him but he pushed her hand away.

"What's the matter?" Vera demanded, "What the hell have I done to upset you?"

Then she saw Marv had turned pale and she noticed he was shaking.

"Just leave it, pumpkin. I can't do this right now...I just can't."

Vera shifted closer and put her arm around him and this time Marv did not push her away.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

Vera was gently touching his face and looking into his eyes with such deep concern that he hated himself when he remembered what he was guilty of doing:

_He hated himself so much at that moment that he was sure if Vera wasn't home he would have gone in the bathroom and got a razor and cut his arms all over again, just like he used to do back when he had first gone to jail, when he was all alone and had nothing to think about but what he had lost and what he had done wrong..._

Vera was still talking to him but he wasn't listening.

Marv turned away as she stroked his hair and caught sight of his reflection in the bedroom mirror.

_As he looked at the man in the glass he wondered how he could have done something so terrible- he had never hit a woman in his life and he couldn't even imagine being a rapist... he had never wanted to do anything so terrible in his whole life..._

_He still couldn't remember forcing himself on Vera's sister._

Vera was still talking to him.

"I'm not surprised you find it hard to relax," She was saying, "You've just been released, you've got your freedom back, you and me are back together- you've had a lot to deal with. It's a lot for anyone to handle but I know you break easy, honey. Come on, just lie down with me."

Marv looked at her apologetically. He had expected seeing Vi again to bring back some bad memories but he hadn't expected it to affect him like this...

_"I'm sorry,"_ He said quietly,_ "I can't make love - I can't even get it up!"_

And then Vera gently pulled him down onto the soft pillows and wrapped her arms around him.

As she held him she felt his heart pounding hard and fast and she was sure he had broken out into a cold sweat, but she just held onto him and said it all over again:

"Things will get better when we move to the new house, baby. You'll be just fine, don't worry. Lets just lay here together for a while, okay?"

"Okay." Marv said quietly.

Then he moved closer to his wife and the warmth of her embrace as he decided that right now sleep would only bring bad dreams, but at least laying here, beside Vera, he felt safe in her arms - and right now that was the best he could hope for...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This was the day Elise Merchants had been waiting for; the sun was high in a blue sky when they had left the apartment and after several hours in the car Elise had fallen asleep, eventually numbed into boredom by the same old fields that passed by, stretching on for miles that had taken on a hypnotic turn as they passed one after another and it had seemed endless.

Then the car pulled up and came to a stop and Elise opened her eyes.

"Are we there yet?" She wondered.

And her Mom had looked around from the front seat and smiled.

"We sure are, honey!"

As Elise got out of the car so did Marv, he stretched his stiff back and then looked up at the house:

It was old; the wooden front had faded white paint and looked as if the place hadn't had much attention for many years. The glass in the windows were leaded, the roof had fancy gables, too. But a few tiles were missing up there and a couple of panes of glass in one of the upstairs windows were cracked.

_It wasn't a disaster; these were things he could get fixed..._

Vera walked up the steps to the porch, looked around and smiled at Marv.

"This place is beautiful!" She exclaimed, "It's so old but it's so nice –"

"There's a couple of tiles missing off the roof. Its nothing to worry about – but I think we should keep the guest room underneath it for your sister when she comes to stay."

And Marv smiled a crafty smile.

"_Because that's where the leak comes through when it rains!"_

And Vera laughed.

"Now I know why you said she could come out and stay with us for a few days!"

Marv shrugged.

"Well I don't know what else to do – I know she hates me, so I figured inviting her out her for a week might make her see things in a different light. I've been doing a lot of thinking – I don't want to spend the rest of my life fighting with her, I'd rather try and get along with her."

Vera was well aware that on their last night at the apartment, Marv had stunned Vi by inviting her to come over to the house because he thought she might like to spend some time with the family – but then she remembered what she had said to him about it, and she said it again:

"And once she's gone, we don't _ever_ have to invite her over again!" She exclaimed.

"My thoughts exactly, pumpkin!"

Marv looked up at the old house, then he glanced around at the field at the side of the house, his gaze wandered around the trees and the pathway that led away from where he stood.

"Elise," He called out.

His daughter was leaning over a dark pond.

She got up and looked over at him.

"What, Dad?"

"Don't do that." He said, "You might fall in. I think it's pretty deep."

Then he looked at his wife.

"If you follow the path through the field it leads to the road. If you stay on that path it goes over the bridge and into town. But _don't_ go down the other path, the one that goes around the side of the house."

Elise and Vera were both listening.

"Why not?" Elise wondered.

"Because that leads through the big old trees over there – and there's an old barn. It's been locked up for god knows how long so I don't want you fooling around in there, Elise. You might have an accident."

Elise gave a sigh.

"Okay, Dad!"

Then Marv got the house keys out of his pocket and unlocked the front door.

Vera and Elise followed him inside.

"Wow!" Elise exclaimed as she looked around the big, wide hallway.

The wallpaper was old and faded just like the carpet that covered the floor and the stairs but this place was big, it was old but more faded than shabby and Vera smiled as she took in her first impression of their new home.

"I like it." She told her husband, "I guess it hasn't been decorated for a long time but that doesn't matter."

Elise was standing on the stairway now, running her hand over the barley twist spindles that held up the polished wooden handrail that looked as old as the house.

"Honey there's a phone point in here but there's no internet connection," Marv told his daughter, "I'm sorry about that. I've been coming over here to get everything okay for us to move in but I didn't think to set that up, because at the time I didn't know I had a little girl who owns a PC!"

"How long will I have to wait?" She wondered.

Marv made a guess.

"I think I can sort it out by the end of the week."

"Okay." Elise told him, "But no longer- I want to stay in touch with my friends!"

A look of concern clouded Marv's eyes.

"What friends?"

He turned sharply to Vera.

"You let her _talk_ to people online?"

Vera smiled.

"Her school friends, Marv!"

And as Elise ran up the stairs to go and explore, Vera gently ran her hand down his arm.

"You're starting to sound like an over protective Dad already!"

"I know, I'm getting used to being a father." He promised her.

Marv walked down the hallway and led her into the kitchen.

It was wide and bright and the sun shone into the room and the windows gave a direct view of the garden at the back of the house.

"Do you like it?"

Vera looked around the kitchen. It hadn't been altered since the 1980s but there was nothing wrong out here.

"So far I like it." She promised him.

Then she put her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

"So what's next? Do we need furniture?"

"This place is already furnished."

_"Shopping?"_

"I did some of that a few days ago. The cupboards and the freezer should be okay but some of the stuff in the fridge might need throwing out, but most of it should be okay."

Vera smiled as she looked at him in surprise.

"You really have done all this by yourself, I'm amazed..."

Then she thought about how much he had been through lately and her voice softened.

"You need to take it easy now, Marv. This place is perfect for that – we're in a nice, quiet place, you can relax, not worry about anything –"

"_Apart from your sister coming over."_

"She won't stay too long. Once she sees how happy we are I don't think she'll try and start anything again."

Then Marv turned his head and looked out the window at the over grown lawn.

"I'll need to cut that grass." He remarked, "There's a lawnmower in the garage. You should see what that garden looks like when the lawns cut. You'll love it. And there's a sundial in the middle of the garden, its a little stone circle set on a fancy base that looks like a little pillar. You can't see it yet because the grass is too high, but it's going to look nice when the lawns cut. And those trees at the back of the garden, they're apple trees. There's an old swing beneath the biggest tree in the corner. I checked it out, it's still safe to use. Elise will love it."

Marv was still looking out into the garden.

Vera blinked as she looked at her husband.

"How come you found all that out?"

He was still looking at the garden

"I went exploring."

"Are you sure that swing's safe for Elise? It must be very old."

"Sure it is."

Marv finally looked back at her and then he smiled.

"I know it's safe, I tried it out myself!"

Vera laughed, and then she pulled him closer and gave him a kiss.

"Show me some more of the house!" She said as her eyes sparkled.

"Okay, I'll do that." Marv replied, then he put his arm around her and they walked out of the room.

On the way out, Marv paused to look back at that garden again, and then they left the kitchen to see what the rest of the place was like.

* * *

The front room was in pretty good condition, here the carpets were not faded and there was a huge, thick rug in front of a large flame effect gas fire.

The sofas were old but comfortable and the shelf above the fireplace was filled with china ornaments. In the middle of the shelf was a small clock with a gold face set in a round lens. The body of the clock was made of polished wood and Marv picked up the clock and smiled.

"I think I should set the time right." He remarked, noticing the hands had long ago frozen at three o'clock.

As he opened the back of the clock Vera looked at him doubtfully.

"I'll bet that clocks been broken a long time."

"No," Marv replied, finding the key in the bottom and carefully winding it, "I can fix this thing, trust me..."

Vera watched as he wound the clock and then put the key back in the bottom and shut the back of the clock.

"It's not working." She told him.

Marv gave her a knowing smile.

"I haven't finished yet."

He opened up the glass cover and wound the hands to the right time, and then he shut the glass and set it back on the shelf above the fireplace.

Vera smiled.

"It's the right time now - but it ain't working, baby..."

_"Yes it is."_ Marv said, and he tapped the top of the clock.

It started to _tick-tick-tick_ and Vera's eyes widened in surprise.

"I told you I could make it work." Marv said to her, "You just have to do it the right way."

"You must have spent hours in this house getting to know the place! "

Marv shrugged.

"I came up here once or twice, I needed to take a look around and see what needed fixing before I could move in."

"So how many times was it, once or twice?" She wondered.

"It didn't take me long to get used to the place."

"_Marv."_

Vera was still waiting for an answer.

"What?" He wondered.

"I said, _how many times_ did you come up here?"

Marv shrugged.

"Maybe twice."

"Can't you remember, honey?"

Marv looked back at her and shook his head.

"I think it_ was_ twice._ Maybe_ three times. You know what I'm like, I had a head injury ten years ago – my memory's never been the same since! What difference does it make how many times I came up here?"

Vera gave a sigh.

"I was just asking, that's all - forget it."

Marv had forgotten already.

He grabbed her hand and led her out of the front room and across the hall.

"Check out the downstairs bathroom!"

He led her across the hall past a dining room that had a huge, expensive looking dining table in there and pushed open the bathroom door.

The room was white and tiled all over, the long, narrow window that let in light through frosted glass bathed the room in brilliance but as she saw what was on the wall she stared in surprise.

"Oh Marv it's beautiful!" She said as she looked at the large, colorful mosaic that was set into the wall, showing a picture of two dolphins leaping together through clear blue water.

Marv traced his finger along the picture.

"That's the male, the other one here is his mate- and you see what's following them through the water?"

And as he indicated to the smaller dolphins coming into view from behind a bright coral reef.

Vera smiled.

"They've got babies!"

"Maybe _we_ should." Marv said nervously, still looking at the picture.

"Should what?"

Marv glanced at her.

"Have another one. Another baby. _I'd love to have more kids with you, Vera_."

She saw the look in his eyes and understood how much he longed for all the things he had missed out on – but he was, as usual, moving too fast.

"Not yet." She told him, "Honey, you've not been out of prison long. There's no rush, we've got all the time in the world."

Her words made his heart sink but he tried not to show how disappointed he felt.

"I know you're right, but I look at Elise and I think about how much I've missed and it makes me want to have back everything I missed out on. I can't turn the clock back and make life different so I never went to jail - all I can do is try and catch up on what I've missed out on."

"We don't have to do that right now." Vera reminded him as they walked out of the bathroom, "You're not locked up now. You're free and we have a new start and there's no need for us to rush anything."

They headed towards the stairs.

As they started to go up, Elise ran up the upper hallway and smiled at them.

"This place is great!" She exclaimed, "I love my bedroom already!"

Marv frowned.

"What bedroom? I didn't say which bedroom is yours –"

He hurried up the stairs and met his daughter at the top as Vera followed behind.

"The _pink_ room!" Elise was saying, "The one with the rocking horse and the dolls houses and the teddy bears!"

"They left all that stuff here?" Vera wondered, "Most people take their kids stuff with them when they leave."

They began to walk down the upper hall.

"The old lady who used to own this house kept the pink room just like her grand daughter used to have it." Marv said, "That's what I was told. It's just got a few old toys in there – nice stuff, though..."

And they passed a pale bedroom with a damp patch on the ceiling where the rain came though because of the missing tiles and Marv smiled.

"That's where your sister's sleeping, pumpkin! That's the guest room – we'll just call it the _Violet room_..."

And Vera glanced at the damp patch on the ceiling and laughed.

"If she gets awkward we can always hope it's gonna rain!" She remarked.

"This is the room I want!" Else exclaimed, running in through an open door and jumping up and down on dusty old boards that were not quite covered by the large rug that filled up most of the floor space in the room.

Vera stepped into the room and looked around: this was a lovely room for Elise, there was a big dolls house, an old rocking horse, the room was so pretty even if the pink walls were rather faded...

"_I want it, I want it!"_ Elise said as she got on the bed and jumped up and down again.

Vera laughed.

"Okay honey, you can have this room!"

She turned to Marv, who was looking at the big, white wooden wardrobes that stood on the other side of the room.

"I think she'll be okay in here." She said to him.

But Marv didn't answer her.

He walked over to the rocking horse and ran his hand over the horse's mane, lost in his own thoughts.

"_Marv?"_

He turned away from the rocking horse and looked at his wife.

"What, pumpkin?"

Vera blinked, noticing he seemed preoccupied.

"What's the matter? You looked like you were miles away."

"I was just thinking back to when I was a kid." He replied.

"You've never talked about your childhood."

Marv shook his head.

"It wasn't much fun living with Molly Merchants, con woman and thief but it certainly was different!" He replied.

Hearing a strange name caught Elise's attention.

"Who's Molly Merchants?" She wondered.

"She would have been your Grandma but she died around the time I went to jail. She'd been sick for quite a while. I wish she'd had the chance to know you, Elise – she would have loved you."

Vera was tempted to say that after finding out Molly had been partly responsible for the disastrous kidnap plans that had got Marv sent to jail, she really wouldn't have wanted her to meet Elise – but Marv had spoken of his mother with such fondness in his voice that she thought it better to stay quiet; he was so sensitive and easily upset, so much more than he used to be, but the difference was, after everything he had been though in prison, he was more likely to start crying than to lose his temper if someone upset him these days...

Elise had sat down on the bed now.

She ran her hand over a row of books beside the bed and pulled one out.

"Oh wow!" She said, "Fairytales! I _love_ fairytales!"

Vera smiled at her daughter.

"Maybe you can get used to your new room right now," She said to her, "_If_ you can read fairytales without jumping up and down on the bed. And if you play on the rocking horse _don't_ go too fast! I went too fast on a rocking horse when I was a kid – I went flying off it and hit my head on a wall!"

"I won't do that!" Elise promised her.

* * *

As they left the bedroom and closed the door, Marv was still thinking about what Vera had done back when she was a kid and he laughed.

"You came off a rocking horse and hit your head on a wall? That explains a lot – I always thought you must be crazy to fall in love with me – _now_ I get it..."

Vera's eyes narrowed.

"You think so?" She said teasingly as she looked at him, "_This is coming from the guy who got his head smashed in while he was in jail?"_

"That was a little bit harsh." He replied, and then he grabbed her and smiled as he gently pushed her up against the wall.

"I was only kidding, pumpkin, you're beautiful, you're smart..._I married a genius!_"

And Vera laughed, but only for a moment, then his mouth was hard on hers and they were kissing deeply.

As he kissed her and held her, Marv felt relieved to know he was very definitely showing signs of having no problem getting aroused now - but he quickly pulled back and let go of his wife because like she had said, he had to get used to being a father – and his daughter was across the hall, she wouldn't be playing in her room for long and if he wanted to go to bed with Vera, he would _definitely_ have to wait until later on...

"What's our bedroom like?" Vera wondered.

"Over there, at the end of the hall." He told her.

Marv still had his arm around her as he walked with her to the door of the main bedroom.

He opened the door and Vera looked around, saw the soft carpets and the velvet drapes and the four poster bed and she gave a squeal of delight.

"Oh Marv, this is so beautiful!" She exclaimed.

"The bed's only ten years old. It's got a brand new mattress and new pillows and covers and I made up this bed myself before I came to see you."

And as he said that, he pulled her closer.

"So you were very confident I'd want to come with you?"

"Sure I was, I'm like that, I'm an optimistic kind of guy."

Vera's eyes shone with excitement.

"I wanna drag you in here and –"

"_I'd love you to do that," _He murmured, and then his hand closed gently over her wrist and guided her hand downwards, pressing it firmly against his solid erection, "_No problems now, Vera." _He said in a low voice, and then he quickly pulled her hand back upwards again.

"But no fooling around until later – we'll have to wait till Elise has gone to bed."

Vera looked back at the romantic bedroom and gave a sigh.

"Can't we just go in here for five minutes and -"

"No!" Marv said, "You're the one who reminded me I've got responsibilities now. We can't fool around in the middle of the day while our daughter's up here in her new room!"

And he let go of her, then took her by the hand and led her down the hall towards the stairs.

"Where are we going now?" She wondered.

"I want to show you something." Marv told heras he got a sudden idea.

She noticed the sly smile on his face and she laughed.

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

They had reached the bottom of the stairs but he still had a tight grip on her hand.

"Come with me, I'll show you..."

He led her out into the kitchen, opened up a small wooden door and turned on a light.

As the light came on the steps were lit up brightly and Marv led her down into the basement.

"What do you think?" He asked her, gesturing around the big, bright space that had a carpet and a TV and a sofa and a drinks cabinet that was fully stocked. Across the other side of the room were a pool table and a pinball machine.

"Did you do this?" She wondered.

Marv smiled as he nodded.

"This is my little play room." He said as he led her over to the sofa and they sat down together.

Then he glanced towards the stairs.

"We'll hear if she comes down to find us..."

"We can't be long." Vera said, thinking of her daughter upstairs exploring her new bedroom and all the toys inside it.

Marv felt a rush of desire and he pulled down his zipper.

"_Believe me, this won't take long!"_ He said impatiently.

Vera leaned down over his lap and Marv leaned back on the padded sofa and gave a sigh of satisfaction as he ran his fingers through her hair.

He was right; he was so excited it didn't take long at all, a few minutes later his face was flushed and he was breathing heavily with a smile on his face.

Vera looked into his eyes.

"You're right, honey – it looks like that problem you had has gone away now!"

Marv quickly tidied up his clothing.

"We'd better go back upstairs now." He said, getting up from the sofa, "We shouldn't leave Elise all by herself in a new house."

Vera got up and followed him up the stairs.

"I'm sure she's having a great time with the rocking horse." She told him, "Or the dolls house – _and_ she's got the books to read."

They reached the top of the stairs and went back out into the kitchen.

Marv closed the basement door.

_Then a scream came loudly from upstairs._

* * *

Marv and Vera exchanged a glance, and then they both ran for the stairs, colliding with each other as they both struggled through the kitchen doorway at the same time.

"_Don't push me you moron!"_ Vera yelled, shoving past him, and then she raced out into the hallway.

"Are you okay Elise?" She called up the stairs.

_"NO!"_ Her daughter yelled back.

This time they both made for the stairs together without tripping over each other, Marv was at the top first and slightly breathless as he hurried into his daughter's bedroom.

"What's the matter, honey?"

Elise screamed again and pointed to the wall.

By now Vera was in the room too.

She saw what Elise was pointing at and gave a sigh.

"Marv," She said, "Who's gonna deal with this thing, you or me?"

_And Marv looked at the huge, hairy black spider that was sitting on the wall over by the dolls house..._

"I'll do it." He said, walking over to the spider, "It's just a spider... its more scared of us than we are of it..."

And he grabbed an old cloth that was lying by the window and moved it slowly towards the spider.

He paused, noticing just how big the thing was.

"Just grab the damned thing!" Vera said sharply.

Marv laughed nervously as he glanced at his wife.

"I'm trying to, pumpkin – _but it's so big it's got knees and elbows!_"

Elise had closed the book she was reading as she edged away from the wall.

"Grab it, Dad!" She urged him.

The spider moved.

Marv shivered and made another timid attempt to get closer.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Vera exclaimed, then she saw a feather duster on top of the wardrobe and picked it up, stepped forward and gave the spider a flick.

It flew off the wall and landed on Marv's shoulder.

He brushed it off and it fell onto the bed, scurried down the cover and made it to the floor, where it ran under the bed.

Marv was still brushing his shirt on the spot where the spider had landed.

"It's _gone!_" Vera said to him.

Marv stopped fussing over his shoulder and stared at her.

"Were did it go?"

"Under the bed! Go fetch it; I've had _enough_ of this!"

And she thrust the cloth into his hand.

Marv looked at Elise who smiled hopefully back at her father.

"Please get rid of it, Dad. I don't want that _thing_ running about under my bed!"

Marv glanced at Vera.

"_It's under the bed."_ She reminded him.

Marv nodded.

"Sure, I can handle this – _it's just a spider...under the bed_..."

And he got down on his knees and leaned level with the floor, cautiously lifting the cover to take a look under the bed.

The spider was running off towards daylight now, making for the small gap between the cover and the floor at the bottom of the bed.

_But Marv wasn't looking at the spider now._

There was writing scratched into the wall under the bed; it was tiny, it was old and it read: _Save me..._

Marv took in a sharp breath, knocking his head on the base of the bed as he got up too quickly.

"I don't believe you!" Vera exclaimed, "How can a grown man be_ so_ scared of a spider?"

Marv was shaking and breaking out into a sweat as he recalled the small lettering scratched into the wall beneath the bed.

He quickly pulled the cover down and straightened it up again and got up from the floor.

"It...it's not there now, pumpkin. I think it ran away."

Vera turned her head and saw a small black blur scuttle towards the door.

She snatched the cloth from Marv and dumped it on the spider, then kept a firm hold on the cloth as she went over to the open window and dropped it out.

"Problem solved!" She exclaimed.

Then she looked harder at her husband.

"Honey it was _only a spider_- you like you've seen a _ghost!_"

Marv put his hand to his head as he closed his eyes for a moment.

"No, I'm okay..."

He looked back at his wife.

"I've got a headache, I need to go and have a lie down."

Vera opened her mouth to speak, but Marv had already left the room.

"I don't think Dad likes spiders." Elise remarked.

Vera smiled.

"Now I know where you get _your_ phobia from!" She said to her daughter.

* * *

Much later, while the sky was dark and the moon was up in the blackened sky, Elise was settling into her first night in her now spider-free bedroom.

Vera had looked in on her twice to check she was okay, and both times she had smiled as she watched her daughter sleeping soundly in her new bed.

But her smile had faded when she had gone into the master bedroom, that romantic room where she had made such plans for their first night together in their new home-Marv was in bed, on his side, wide awake and clutching at a pillow like a child too afraid to sleep in the dark as the bedside lamp shone brightly beside him.

She slipped off her dress and then her underwear and got in bed with him.

"What's the matter?" She said gently as she stroked his hair, "You hardly touched dinner, you hardly said a word to Elise and me...you just came straight back up here to lied own again! Honey, are you sick? I mean are you getting depressed again?"

Marv turned over and looked up at her.

"No of course not! I'm happy, we're together, we've got a family, this house too – _why_ would I get depressed?"

Vera looked into his eyes and stroked his hair some more.

"_I know you're fragile, Marv."_

"No I'm _not_, I'm okay now –"

"Yes you _are_." She told him, "Even moving house is a stressful life event. _Any_ kind of stress can be bad for you. If you're not well I need to know because I want to do everything I can to help, you, baby."

Marv gave a sigh as he looked at his wife.

"Vera, for the last time, there is _nothing_ wrong with me! I'm just tired, that's all!"

"_And snappy."_ She informed him as she picked upon the sharpness of his tone.

He looked at her apologetically.

"I'm just tired."

Vera lie beside him and put her arm around him.

"Just close your eyes, go to sleep." She said softly, "I'll hold you all night and I won't let go once, how does that sound?"

Marv managed a smile.

"That sounds good to me."

Vera gave him a gentle kiss.

"Goodnight, honey." She said, then she turned out the light and held him tightly, reminding him that no matter how bad he felt, he was no longer alone.

* * *

Marv wasn't sure how long he slept, but the footsteps in the downstairs hallway woke him and he sat up and looked at the time; it was gone midnight.

As his heart pounded he glanced at Vera and saw she was fast sleep.

_Then he heard more footsteps, heavy, slow, coming up the stairs..._

Marv shook Vera and she woke up with a jolt.

"Hey!" She said in an irritated voice, "What did you do that for, Marv?"

And she sat up and glared at him in the dark.

_"What the hell is wrong with you?"_

Marv drew in a frightened breath.

"Pumpkin I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you...just... _Shh._.."

_"You Shh!"_ She snapped, _"I'm going back to sleep!"_

Then her anger left her as Marv gripped her arm.

As he spoke again his voice was tearful and barely above a whisper.

_"There's somebody downstairs, they're coming up the stairs now, I can hear them! Someone big and heavy and-"_

Vera gave a sigh and switched on the light.

She got out of bed and grabbed Marv's shirt and threw it on, then went over to the closet and took out a baseball bat.

"You think someone's in the house?"

She was wielding that bat like she was ready to knock out anyone in her way.

Marv got up and put on his dressing gown and hurried over to her as she stood listening by the door.

"_Don't_ go out there!"

She stared at her husband.

"It's okay, Marv! If someone's broken in, I'll whack 'em with this and we can call the cops."

More heavy footsteps sounded by the top of the stairs.

Then a man's voice called out:

"_You can't hide forever... Daddy doesn't wanna play any more!"_

Marv gave a gasp and leaned hard against the wall, ready to grab Vera before she went out there and confronted him.

_"He's right outside!"_ He said tearfully, _"You heard him!"_

And Vera looked at Marv utterly confused.

"Heard who?" She said, _"Marv, I didn't hear a damned thing!"_

"No, Vera –" As she moved forward he reached for her, but she was too quick for him, wrenching open the bedroom door and stepping out into the hallway where she hit the light switch.

Vera looked up and down the hall, then over the balcony, and then she lowered the bat.

"Marv," She said wearily, "Come here..."

He timidly peered out from the doorway.

"_Come out here now!"_ She said sharply.

Marv cautiously stepped out into the hallway.

"There you go," Vera said, "Take a look around. There's no one here but us, honey."

Then a light rattling sound came from down the hall.

"That's what you heard," She said to him, "A window wasn't fastened properly."

And she walked over and secured it.

"That _wasn't_ the sound I heard." Marv said quietly, _"I heard this guy coming up the stairs... I heard him call out!"_

Vera gave the small window a shove and closed it properly.

"You didn't, honey. I would have heard it too. What did he say?"

And Marv looked at her, feeling an icy chill run down his spine.

"I...I'm not sure."

Vera gave another sigh.

"You were _dreaming!_ Go back to bed, Marv_!_"

Marv stayed where he was, still looking around the hallway. Then he looked over the balcony, checking downstairs.

_"Bed!"_ Vera said again, taking him by the hand and leading him back into the bedroom.

She left the bat next to the dresser and led him over to the bed and he got back into it, as she got in beside him she reached over to turn out the light, Marv stopped her.

"Leave it on."

"_Why?"_ She demanded.

"You're right, I must have had a bad dream. I'd feel better with the light on, just for tonight."

Vera gave a sigh and turned her back to him, pulling the covers around her shoulders as she settled down to try and get back to sleep.

"You'll be having a _real_ nightmare tomorrow." She snapped, _"Vi's coming over!"_

"Yeah, maybe that's why I had a bad dream." He said quietly, but Vera just sighed and after a couple of minutes she was sleeping deeply once more.

Vera slept for the rest of the night and this time her sleep was undisturbed, but Marv stayed awake all night - _listening for more sounds and voices that only he could hear..._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Marv was out in the back garden mowing down the over grown grass.

The noisy old mower drowned out any other sound and finally he caught sight of Vera waving from the back door and he switched it off.

"What?" He called back, standing by a completely exposed sundial on the half of the garden that had been cut.

"Vi's here." She replied.

_Marv felt every muscle in his body grow tense._

"Okay." Was all he said, then he switched on the mower and started to cut the grass again, this time taking his time, deciding he might have to be out here for hours until this lawn was perfect – _any excuse not to speak to Vera's sister..._

He knew what he wanted to say but it wasn't easy and he didn't want to think about it.

_The thought of Vi was making the scars on his arms itch once more._

Marv tried to ignore it and carried on mowing the lawn.

* * *

Vi stepped into the house and looked around the hallway.

"It's great, don't you think?" Vera said to her.

Vi kept back what she knew about the history of this place; she was planning to drop _that_ little bombshell much later on, purely as a last resort because otherwise Vera would know she'd planned and timed it and that could go against her. For now, she was going to make out that she knew nothing about this place at all...

Vi put her bags down in the hall.

Vera glanced at them and felt her heart sink; _she looked as if she had packed for more like two weeks than a few days..._

"Yeah." Vi remarked, "Nice place. Well, it could be if it was modernised and redecorated. I can't see Marv doing much beyond basics in here."

A slight tension crept into Vera's voice.

"He can handle it – he knows what he's doing."

Vi said nothing and walked down the hall and through the open door that led into the kitchen.

She stood there watching Marv cutting the grass and then she turned back to Vera, who had started to make some coffee.

"How's Elise finding this place?"

"She loves it, she's upstairs in her room playing with the toys up there. She's got a dolls house, a rocking horse – it's a lovely room for a little girl."

Vi felt a chill run down her spine.

"_That stuff came with the house?"_

Vera glanced at her.

"So what?"

"I was only asking." Vi replied, "For a minute there I thought Marv had gone out and bought her a lot of new stuff!"

"He's done enough, Vi! He bought us this house!" Vera reminded her.

And Vi thought about the history of this house that Vera didn't know about yet.

_"Yeah right."_ She said quietly.

Vera set the coffee on the kitchen table and then sat down and so did her sister.

"So are you planning on stopping long?" She wondered.

Vi blew steam from the surface of the coffee.

"_Why? Are you planning on kicking me out pretty soon?"_

For a moment the two sisters looked at each other and exchanged an icy glance.

"No." Vera said finally, "But I _am_ hoping you and Marv can at least learn to get along. Don't forget it was him who invited you up here – he really wants to show you how much he loves us, how serious he is about making a future with me and Elise! _Don't you know that?_"

"Of course I do." Vi replied, "I just hope it works out – not only for your sake but Elise too – it's going to be very hard on her if you have break up with her Daddy if something went wrong. I mean, she never knew about him, she's only just started to get to know him."

Vera hated the way Vi was looking on the negative side already, but she didn't want to cause a quarrel.

"And they're getting on very well" She told her, "We're all getting along well. It's working out, I think it's all going to turn out just fine."

Vi said nothing more and started to slowly drink her coffee.

_"Hi!"_

As Elise walked into the room, she had sounded so bright and happy to see her Auntie Vi again and Vera smiled.

"Vi's come to stay for a few days." She told her.

"Great!" Elise said,"You should come up and see my room - it's amazing! It's got a dolls house with lots of stuff in it! And I've got an old fashioned rocking horse, too. I think my Dad got it when he bought the house, I think it was already here..."

"Actually I was going to take a drive into town." Vera said, "Do you both want to come with me?"

As she spoke she hoped that Vi would agree to go with her because she wanted to keep her away from Marv as much as she possibly could; she was still uneasy about his efforts to try and make peace with her when Vi was so set on hating him.

"I'll come." Elise said, then she grabbed hold of Vi's hand.

"You should come too – it might be fun, we haven't been into town yet!"

Vi glanced out the window.

Marv had his back to her as he cut the grass.

"Fine." She said, "I'll come with you Elise."

They left the room and walked off down the hallway.

Vera went out the back door and called out to Marv.

He carried on cutting the grass.

"_MARV!"_ She yelled, much louder this time.

He switched the mower off and looked around.

"What now, Vera?"

"Me and Vi are driving into town with Elise. We won't be gone long."

Marv forced a smile.

"Have a good time, honey."

"We will." Vera promised him, then she went back into the house.

Marv turned back to the mower, still feeling tense at the thought of Violet being around.

"_Don't hurry back..."_ He muttered under his breath as the old mower burst back into life and he started to cut the grass again.

* * *

By the time the lawn was finished, Marv checked his watch and guessed they had been gone for maybe an hour. The town was small but they would take their time exploring, he knew that and knowing that gave him some relief to think it would be a while before Violet returned...

Marv pushed the mower back off the lawn and then took off his shirt and used it to wipe the sweat from his body; he looked again at the lawn and smiled, thinking how much better it looked, then he went back in the house to shower and change his clothes.

_It was quiet now the family was out; that was the first thought that hit him._

Marv went upstairs and headed for the bedroom where he planned to strip off the rest of his clothes.

Then he passed his daughter's bedroom door and stopped walking, taking a step back as he glanced out of the corner of his eye through the open doorway:

_No, he was seeing things..._

_There was no way, no fucking way that rocking horse moved on its own..._

Marv took in a deep breath and reminded himself there were _far_ scarier things in life than being alone in an old house; he had once been with Vera, breaking into a smart, technologically advanced house and all his efforts had got him thanks to the kid who was staying there at the time was lots of bruises, one concussion and a jail sentence.. _Yes, worse things had happened..._

He gave a sigh.

_"It's just your imagination, Marv."_ He said aloud.

Then he stepped into the room, looking around at the pink walls, remembering that Elise loved this room.

_But his gaze was shifting to the space under the bed, hidden by the covers._

_He needed to look._

_It wasn't something he could fight the urge to do – he had to take one more look..._

He went over to the bed and for a moment he hesitated, then he grabbed the fabric and pulled it up.

The small words were still scratched into the wall; they had been scratched there long ago, scratched by a child beneath this bed...

_Save me..._

The words gave him a chill and he pulled the cover back down and stood up, taking in a deep breath as he thought about getting something to fix the problem; maybe he could fill it in and then sand it down and paint over it – he could do it when Elise was at school and Vera was out shopping. _They would never have to see it..._

Marv left the room and closed the door. He walked down the hallway into the main bedroom, then went over to the window and pulled the lace curtain aside and looked out at the view beyond the apple trees:

_He looked at the old barn; the doors were held shut by a padlock and chain and he wanted it to stay that way but he knew that some day he would have to go in there, just to look around. It was there in the barn that Frederick Montgomery had shot himself, after shooting his wife Pauline and his daughter Sylvia right here in the house..._

Marv wished he didn't know the history of this place, because he knew more than he ever wanted his family to find out:

_The land at the back of this house had once had stables, too. Freddie used to breed horses. But he was a gambler too, a bad gambler and when the debts mounted up and there was no way out but to lose everything, he let the horses run free and then he burned the stables. Then he went back to the house, shot his family in their beds and went out to the barn._

_He went out to the barn on the night the stables burned..._

Marv took a deep breath and reminded himself until that night this had been a happy family home, until a man who was a good father and a loving husband had been lost to depression that drove him to go crazy. It wasn't a horror story, it was a tragedy and that was how it ought to be thought of, that was the way he saw it...

And for many years after that Pauline's mother had lived here, first with her husband then after his death from old age, she had lived here alone until her own death.

_Every house had a history_.

Most didn't have as bad a history as this place- but he hoped, one day, when Vera heard all about it, she would understand.

He hoped that wouldn't happen for a long, long time – and by then, they would be happy here, having lived here a long time and thinking of this house as their home...

Marv turned away from the window, then he turned back, ripping the curtain aside as he looked down on hearing the sound of panicked horses running in the dark - _but the sky was blue and the sun was shining and the fields were empty..._

He dropped the curtain and went through to the bathroom and stripped off his clothes and got under a hot shower.

No matter how hot he turned the water and no matter how hard he scrubbed at his arms, the itching wouldn't stop as he thought about how it wouldn't be long before Violet returned.

He wanted to speak to her alone, he wanted to apologize even though he couldn't remember a damned thing about that night; _he hated himself for what he had done to that girl..._

For a split second Marv thought he heard the thunder of hooves outside as panicked horses ran from the burning stables, but he shut it out, knowing this place with its history would get to him one way or another because he knew what he was like. _Vera was right, he broke so easily..._

_But where would he be without this house?_

If he had nothing to offer Vera, she would be gone with Elise, he knew it for sure.

Without this house he would have no chance of keeping his family together; he had to live here, he _had_ to put up with the crazy stuff he heard and thought about - and most of all, he had to put up with Violet, because there was no other way to deal with this...

_He looked down and stopped scratching as he saw blood mix with soap as an old scar opened up on his arm._

Then Marv leaned against the cold tiled wall of the shower and sobbed, wishing the water could wash away all the bad things...

* * *

A short while later the front door closed loudly.

"_We're back!" _

Elise's voice echoed around the hallway.

Then she looked up and saw her Dad walking slowly down the stairs.

"How was it?" He wondered, "What did you think of the town?"

"Kind of small." Vera said, "But that's okay. It's nice, I like it. And we found the local library and the local school."

And as she said that she looked at Elise and smiled.

"And here I was thinking maybe there wasn't a school around here!" She exclaimed.

"Yes there is!" Vera told her, "Right after summers over, you can start at your new school. Its pretty close by too, it's not much of a drive."

Then as Marv reached the bottom of the stairs she noticed there was a small bandage around his arm.

"What happened?" She wondered.

And Marv looked down and realized he had been so lost in his thoughts about the things that disturbed him, he had forgotten to put on a shirt with long sleeves – it was too late now; _Violet was staring at his scarred arms and worst of all, so was Elise..._

"Daddy?" She said as she walked over to him, "What happened to your arms? How did you get those scars?"

Marv struggled with the answer.

"Oh I don't know honey – it was a long time ago – a tiger, a tiger bit me..."

"_A tiger did that?"_

"Or maybe a shark when I was diving in the ocean."

"_A shark?"_ She echoed.

"A tiger shark." Vera said quickly, "And it was a long time ago and Daddy _doesn't _remember anything about it, right?"

She was fixing him with a look that said enough; _Shut up, Marv..._

He nodded.

"Right." He agreed.

Then Vera looked back at the bandage on his arm.

"Did you have an accident with the mower?"

Then she saw the apologetic look in his eyes and she got it right away; he'd been hurting his arms again.

"_You did it again?"_ She said.

"Did what?" Elise wondered.

Vera looked at her sharply.

"Go and unpack the shopping in the kitchen with Auntie Vi."

"But Mom-"

"_I said, go help Vi!"_

As Elise reluctantly followed Vi towards the kitchen, Vera's eyes narrowed like an angry cat as she looked at her husband.

"You're cutting again?"

"_No!"_

"Don't lie to me, Marv! What the fuck are you doing that crazy stuff for? I thought that was _over!_"

Marv blinked back tears and glanced towards the kitchen: Elise was out of the way, she was busy with Vi, he could speak to Vera briefly without fear of being overheard, but he knew he didn't have enough time to say all he wanted to say – if he ever explained all of that, it would take far longer than he had right now...

_"When I get stressed my scars itch, so I scratch them. I can't stop scratching them and sometimes they bleed."_

Tears were blurring his vision and his hand shook as he wiped them away.

"Upstairs." Vera said, taking him gently by the arm and turning him towards the stairway, "Come on, you need to lie down."

"But Elise ...she'll wonder where I am-"

"I'll make something up, okay? Just get up the stairs."

Vera's voice was hushed as she looked at him with deep concern in her eyes.

"You need to rest." She told him, "Don't worry about anything, leave the worry to me -right now you're not well, honey. You need to go to bed."

Her words made sense even though he didn't want to admit it; he let Vera hold on to him as he went up the stairs feeling suddenly weary and in need of her support.

* * *

When he reached the bedroom he got on the bed and gave a sigh as the soft pillow seemed to cradle the ache that had been building up in his head ever since he had come in from the garden.

"Let me see."

Vera was sitting beside him, carefully unwrapping the bandage.

"Oh no, leave it alone, pumpkin!"

"No, I want to see what you've done."

As Vera lifted the bandage away from his arm and she saw the livid red marks that covered old scarring she looked at it for a moment, shook her head and then carefully bandaged his arm again.

"_Please stop hurting yourself."_ She said quietly, "You won't be able to hide this kind of stuff from your daughter – not forever. You've _got_ to stop doing it, Marv."

"I know that." He whispered as he closed his eyes.

Vera looked down at her husband and felt like crying; she had never expected Marv to ever get himself back together, not properly, not completely - he had been through too much and she had known as soon as he had walked through the door back in Vi's apartment that he would never really get better.

"Are you still taking your pills?" She asked him.

"Every day." He promised her as his voice became sleepy.

Then he gave a sigh and his mind began to wander towards sleep.

A sudden thought came to him and he opened his eyes and looked up at Vera as she sat beside him stroking his hair.

"I keep thinking the buzzer's gonna sound when the door opens and shuts."

Vera carried on stroking his hair.

"What do you mean, honey?"

"When I was in the psychiatric hospital, the door used to buzz every time it opened and shut – I mean the door to my room. I remember once after I had the shock therapy for the depression, I was laying in bed and I was still waking up from it, I couldn't remember where I was and I felt kind of weird...but then I heard the door buzz and someone came over and sat next to my bed. She stroked my hair just like you're doing right now and she said she loved me. I dreamed it, I know I did – _I was dreaming of you_."

Vera smiled as she blinked away tears.

"No Marv," She said softly, "That _wasn't_ a dream. _I did come and see you. I sat with you for a very long time, honey. And I did tell you how much I loved you._"

Marv looked into her eyes.

"You never stopped loving me, did you, Vera."

And she smiled back at him as her eyes shone with love.

_"I'll love you forever, baby."_ She promised as she stroked his face.

Then the door creaked and Vera turned to see Elise standing there.

"I thought I told you to help Auntie Vi?"

"I did." Elise replied, then she looked thoughtfully at her parents, wondering why her Dad was lying down with a bandaged arm and her Mom had been talking to him so quietly.

"Are you okay Dad?" She asked him.

"I'm fine; I just need a little rest. I think I got too much sun in the garden when I was cutting the grass today."

"I think so too." Vera replied, giving Marv's hand a squeeze.

Then she thought about her sister and made a decision.

"Elise, could you sit with Daddy for a little while? I need to talk to Auntie Vi."

And she got up headed for the door.

"Vera?"

Marv sounded confused and tired and one look at him told Vera all she needed to know: _He did not need the kind of stress that Vi could cause, not right now..._

"I won't be a minute, honey." She told him, then she left the room.

* * *

Elise sat on the bed next to her father.

"I'll sit with you Dad." She said kindly, "Shut your eyes and go to sleep..."

Marv smiled at his daughter.

"Okay, I'll do that." He promised her, and then he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, wishing the headache that pounded at his temples would leave him alone.

Vera went back downstairs and found Vi in the kitchen looking thoughtfully into the well stocked fridge.

"I was wondering about cooking dinner tonight." She said, "I'd like to do it. Maybe Elise could help me."

Vera looked at her sister and hoped this wouldn't turn into a quarrel; she was too worried about Marv right now and she didn't want him having more stress with Vi shouting the house down...

"Marv's not well." She said quietly, "I think it's the stress of moving, us getting back together, finding out about Elise –it's everything. He needs it quiet."

"Sure he does, I know he's not _normal_ –"

"You should go." Vera stated, "I'm not fighting with you about this, Vi – but I know what you're like. I don't want you saying one single word out of turn to him right now. And besides, I know he wants you to come up here and stay with us, he wants to try and get along with you – but this isn't the right time. If you came up here for the right reasons –"

"_The right reasons?"_ She exclaimed, "I came here to see you and Elise and to try and bury the hatchet with your crazy husband!"

Vera swallowed down her anger.

"There you go again, calling him _names!_"

Then she took a deep breath, remembering Marv needed to rest, remembering she just couldn't lose her temper right now at all...

"Please understand, Vi. You can't stay here right now. I know you want to be sure me and Elise are okay, I know you don't trust him! But you'll just have to trust _me_, okay? Right now is not a good time to be doing this. Go home, I'll call you."

Vi fell silent and thought about everything.

Then she nodded.

"Okay," She said, "I'll call you in a few days."

And she went back through to the hall and grabbed hold of her bags.

"I was here because I care." She reminded Vera, who felt no guilt at all as she opened the door for her sister.

"Maybe you can come over next weekend." She suggested, "Marv just needs a little bit of peace and quiet, that's all. He doesn't even know I've asked you to leave. He would probably want you to stay, I know how much it means to him to try and get along with you."

_Vi looked at her sister and decided everything she had planned could wait a while longer; a few days would make no difference at all..._

"I'll call you later." She said, then she walked out the door and headed for her car.

* * *

Elise was still upstairs.

Her Dad was sleeping soundly on the bed and as he slept, she looked at him, studying his face, wanting to know him as well as she knew her Mom.

She looked at the scars on his arm; the others were mostly hidden on the arm that was bandaged.

Elise reached out and lightly traced her finger over the many vertical scars on the inside of his arm, they ran from his wrist to his elbow and she noticed there was one on his wrist that ran deeply straight across it. The scars were all faded pink and white lines.

She wondered about his story about a shark; she was pretty sure if a shark had gone for his arm it would have bitten it off. _These marks looked more like cuts..._

He was still sleeping deeply.

As he turned on his side she gently touched his short dark hair, thinking how different it was to her own – her hair was exactly the same color as her Mom's- but she knew she had his blue eyes, she had noticed that the moment she met him for the first time...

As her fingers gently parted his hair she stopped, leaning closer as she looked at the scar that ran along the side of his head all the way around to the back.

Then Marv rolled over again and leaned against the deep soft pillows, breathing easily as he slept on.

Now he was on his back again Elise leaned over him, noticing something she hadn't seen before; there was a mark on her Dad's throat, too...

She gently put her finger under his collar and pulled it down a fraction, but she still couldn't see it clearly.

So Elise slowly and carefully opened his top button and parted the top of his shirt.

She stared at the small, vertical scar on his throat, then she put her fingertip on it and traced it curiously.

Marv woke up with a jolt and snapped his eyes open.

"What are you doing?" He said, still half asleep.

"What's _that?_" She asked him, touching the scar on his throat again.

"That's from when I fell over and hurt myself." He told her as he blinked and sat up, "I had problems with my breathing so they had to put me on a life support machine, you know, like you see on TV? But I couldn't have a tube in my mouth because my jaw was broken, so they had to put the tube in my throat to help me breathe properly."

"That must have hurt."

"I don't remember much about it." Marv told her, "I was unconscious for quite a while. But your Mom came to see me a lot, I don't remember her being there but I know she came to see me, so I wasn't by myself. And I got better, I'm okay now."

Elise looked at her Dad and suddenly tears filled her eyes.

_"I'm sorry you were hurt!"_ She said tearfully.

Marv quickly put his arms around her and hugged her, wishing she had never brought up the subject of his injuries.

"Please don't cry, I'm okay now!"

And Elise looked into his eyes and managed to smile again.

"I _know_ that," She said, _"I love you, Daddy."_

And Marv hugged her again as tears filled his own eyes.

"I love you too." He said, feeling the bond they had started to make suddenly grow stronger, "I love you with all my heart, Elise."

Then Elise wiped her eyes and got off the bed.

"Mom said you need to rest." She told him, "So you should go back to sleep."

Marv gave a sigh.

"Honey, I'm fine. I just needed a little lie down –"

Elise grabbed the covers and carefully put them over him, smoothing them down and then sitting on the edge of the bed again.

"There you go," She said kindly, "I've tucked you in. Now you can go back to sleep."

Marv smiled at his daughter and closed his eyes again.

"Okay, I'll try- just for you. And you're as bossy as your mother, did you know that?"

"Sure I know that." She replied, "Go back to sleep, Dad!"

As Marv started to relax and slip back into a light sleep, Elise stayed there beside him, watching him rest, and as she watched him sleeping once more she wondered about something, but she didn't want to wake him again: Why _did her Dad need to go to bed in the middle of the day? And why did he get so upset and worried all the time?_

She guessed that would be something she ought to ask her mother about, because she was sure her Dad didn't like talking about the things that upset him...

* * *

A short while later Vera had come back up the stairs. She had seen Marv sleeping soundly while Elise sat beside him and she had smiled, thinking how close the two of them were already.

Then she had called to her softly.

"Come downstairs, honey – leave Daddy to sleep."

Elise climbed off the bed and tiptoed out of the room and carefully closed the door.

"Daddy woke up but I made him go back to sleep." She informed her.

"Thanks for looking after him." Vera told her, "Daddy needs a little bit of looking after sometimes."

They were walking down the stairs now.

"How come?" Elise wondered.

Vera thought about that question and the best answer she could give.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs she kept her voice low and explained carefully:

"Daddy sometimes gets problems with his mind. He worries too much; he can get very down, too. It can make him sick, so we have to look after him and try and make sure he's got nothing to worry abut."

Then she thought about her sister and guessed he ought to tell Elise she had left sooner rather than later.

"And by the way, Auntie Vi had to go home."

Elise nodded.

"That's probably a _good_ idea." She replied, "I think she upsets Dad sometimes, and that's no good for him, is it?"

Vera's eyes widened in surprise.

"You worked that out pretty fast!"

Elise shrugged.

_"I'm ten years old, Mom – I don't miss much!"_

"I'm starting to realize that!" Vera said, still feeling surprised at how much her daughter really knew about what was going on, "And I was going to cook the dinner." She added, "Want to help me?"

Her daughter smiled.

"I'd love to!" She said, and they went through to the kitchen together.

* * *

A while later, Marv was woken up again.

As he felt a gentle stroking touch on his cheek he gave a sigh and turned away.

"Let me go to sleep, Elise – quit counting my scars!"

Then he heard Vera laugh softly and he opened his eyes.

"What's Elise been doing?" She asked him.

Marv blinked and looked up at his wife who was sitting beside him.

"She woke me up touching the scar on my throat."

"Did you tell her how you got it?"

"Sort of." Marv said, "I didn't say too much, just that it was from when I was in the hospital after I _fell over_ in jail."

And he gave a sigh.

"I know she's to young to know the truth but I'll have to tell her one day – and I'm not looking forward to that, I know she's going to cry when she hears everything."

Vera knew he was right; the day she had seen him in ICU with a skull fracture after taking a beating that left him so battered she barely recognised him had made her cry – she had cried for _months_ over it...

"Well, for now she thinks her Daddy fell over and hurt himself and she also thinks those scars on your arms are from a shark." She told him, "That's enough for her to believe until she's a little bit older."

Worry suddenly clouded Marv's eyes.

"Do you think she'll think less of me when she finds out the truth?" He asked her as he glanced at his scarred arms.

Vera shook her head.

"You're her Dad. She'll love you no matter what she finds out." She promised him.

Then Vera looked into his eyes and hoped what she was about to say wouldn't upset him; he hadn't wanted Vi to come out and see them, he had invited her purely to try and make peace with her and she got the feeling that was something better done right now as far as he was concerned; _but he was too stressed to deal with her right now and she hoped she had done the right thing..._

"I know it means a lot to you to try and make peace with Vi, but you're so stressed right now, you're so tired... I told her to go home, honey. I said she could come over maybe next weekend. But _only_ if you really feel up to seeing her."

Marv sat up and gave a weary sigh.

"What did you do _that _for?"

"I was trying to take care of you! I didn't want to see her start on you and make you feel worse than you already feel! You need rest; you need peace and quiet, Marv!"

As he looked back at her he saw nothing but a deeply caring look in Vera's eyes; he knew she had meant well, but he would have preferred to have spoken to Vi alone and tried to make peace, to make amends for a past Vera knew nothing about - _but Vera didn't know that, she had no way of knowing any of it..._

"I guess you're right, pumpkin." Marv said, "I _do_ need to take it easy. Maybe she could come over next weekend. At least I can be sure I won't have to put up with her nasty comments for a while."

And Vera smiled.

"I just want you to take it easy." She told him.

Then she gave him a brief kiss.

"Elise is setting the table and we're having dinner in fifteen minutes." She told him.

"I'll be downstairs in a minute." He promised her.

Then Vera left the room and Marv lay back on the pillows and looked up at the ceiling as he gave a heavy sigh:

_He needed to make peace with Violet..._

Then his mind started to race and with it came thoughts he wanted to push away:

_What if Violet decided she couldn't forgive him? _

_What if she told Vera what he'd done?_

Fear gripped him as he pictured his family finding out what had happened that night so long ago...

_What would he do if Vera found out that he'd raped her sister?_

Marv blinked back tears as another thought came to mind that overwhelmed him with fear:

He couldn't live with it; he couldn't stick around to see the look in her eyes, or to know that Elise knew the truth...

"_I don't want to do it..."_ He said under his breath as he blinked back tears, but the thought still revolved around in his mind and it scared him so much he felt like the room was starting to spin:

He hadn't expected to have such a sudden, terrible, overwhelming idea, but it was still there and burning bright in his mind:

_If Violet told Vera what he'd done, he would only have one way out – he would have to kill himself..._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_It was late at night. _

Marv was in the bathroom and the water was running but he had left the shower ten minutes ago; he had dried himself and wrapped a towel around his waist and then just stood there, looking into the mirror.

He ran his fingers through his hair and caught sight of the scar hidden beneath that ran around the side of his head. Then he looked at the tiny faded line on his throat.

As his gaze wandered down to the old, faded scars from the cuts to his arms he looked back into the mirror and looked right into his own eyes:

_Elise thought she knew all about him, but she didn't._

_Even Vera didn't know everything; she thought she knew every inch of his body but she was wrong._

_Marv knew where the worst of his scars were hidden and they were in a place where no one else could see them; they were right there, behind his eyes, buried deep inside his mind..._

He tried again, he tried to think hard about that night so long ago when he had woken up and Violet was on the bed with him, but he had been drunk that night, falling over drunk and it was just a blur – _all except for the anger he felt; that anger still hurt inside and sent hot spikes of rage sharply through his body when he thought about it._

He felt a vague itch beginning on his scars again and he glanced down at the fresh bandage that covered the open wound and decided he wouldn't touch it, because if he scratched again it would bleed again and Vera would know, then she would get mad at him, she'd think he just wasn't trying hard enough to stop – _of course she would think that; she didn't understand..._

Then the bathroom door opened and Marv caught sight of Vera standing in the doorway, she was wearing one of his shirts and her hair was all messed up from sleep.

"Marv?" She said, wondering why he was staring into the mirror, "I thought you were coming to bed?"

He was still looking into the mirror.

"_Marv!" _She said sharply, and he blinked, then turned and looked at her.

"Yeah, I am." He said slowly, still half lost in his own thoughts.

Vera came into the bathroom and switched off the shower.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded slowly but she caught a look in his eyes that worried her; he still seemed stressed; she could see it in his eyes.

"Come to bed." She said softly.

Then he followed her into the bedroom and Vera got back into bed.

He took off the towel he was wearing and got in beside her.

Vera turned on her side and ran her hand gently over his chest.

"Marv," She said softly, "How about you let me do something to make you feel better?"

And she smiled.

_"I'm tired."_ He said quietly.

Then he turned on his back and gave a sigh.

"You're right, Vera. I _am_ stressed. I guess it's because everything's changed so fast – for the better, but I'm feeling a little bit down and I don't know why. I keep thinking back to what I did years ago, you know, when we broke into that house. I never should have taken you along with me, I knew you were pregnant. _What kind of a husband was I to drag you into a stupid plan to kidnap a prince when you were carrying my child? We both wound up getting hurt; you could've lost the baby because of that!_"

Vera was gently stroking his shoulder.

"Don't think about the past." She said, "Think about how things are now – it worked out in the end, I know you've been through a lot too - but we're together now and we have Elise and that's all that matters."

And then she gently kissed him, but Marv just pulled away.

"Not now, I'm tired. I just want to go to sleep."

Vera sat up and started to unbutton his shirt.

"Do you know why I like to sleep in your shirts?" She asked him, "I'll tell you why – because I've missed you for years, baby! Now I want to be close to you all the time, even when I'm sleeping."

And she slipped the shirt off.

Marv was still in bed, on his back and as she slid the covers off him he gave a sigh.

"I'm tired." He said again.

"I can fix that..."

Vera started gently kissing down his body.

"_Vera, I said no-"_

Her hands settled at his hips and she breathed against him, kissing his body gently.

Then her mouth moved lower still, and Marv sat up abruptly, pushing her away.

"_Get off me!"_ He snapped.

Then he saw hurt in Vera's eyes.

"Why don't you want me?" She said, "I don't get it, Marv? What's the _matter_ with you?"

And he realized he never should have been so harsh; she was only trying to show him she cared...

"_Vera, I'm sorry."_

She ran her fingers through her hair and put his shirt back on.

"Maybe I should sleep in the spare room."

"No, pumpkin –_listen _–"

He grabbed her arm a little too tightly and a wary look flashed in her eyes.

"Quit squeezing me, Marv. What's got into you?"

"I'm sorry," He said as his voice choked up, "Please don't be mad at me. I just wanted to go to sleep. We can make love in the morning, okay? Just hold me; _please don't make me sleep on my own, Vera please I love you!_"

Marv was close to tears.

"Okay." She said quietly, getting back into bed and putting her arms around him, "I'll stay right here, I wont leave you, okay?"

"_Thanks..."_

Marv's voice was tearful now and as she held him she knew he was crying against her shoulder but his face was pressed right against her, so she held onto him and stroked his hair, wishing she could protect him from his own unstable mind.

"Its okay," She told him again in a soft voice, "Go to sleep, honey, I'm right here."

Finally Marv stopped sobbing, but he stayed in the same position, curled up beside her with his head against her shoulder, while Vera stayed awake long into the night trying not to think about the possibility that was starting to scare her – _the possibility that Marv was on the edge of another breakdown..._

* * *

_Violet had not gone home._

She had booked into a motel in town, then wandered around for a while as she thought about what to do next.

Sure, she could go home for a few days, play it cool, think about how Vera would react when the truth finally came out about how Marv got that house so cheaply...

_But then she had another idea._

It was a mean trick to play but she figured by the time she showed up at the house a week later, Marv would be a shivering wreck and that would be a sight worth seeing...

_She had carried out her plan, buying a shot gun, and then in the dead of night, she sneaked back to the house, snapped open the old rusting chain on the barn and went inside._

The barn was cold and dark and as she stepped inside she shivered; this place threw up many shadows and for someone who was easily scared, this place would _certainly_ play tricks on the mind – but she was stronger than that.

She walked into the middle of the darkened barn and looked up through the old hayloft. Then she turned around, shivering as she thought about how a suicide had happened here...

_But that was in the past._

And _this _was just a prank to make Marv Merchants shit his pants...

She moved aside some old boxes in the corner, shifted some old straw away and carefully laid the unloaded shot gun at the back of the boxes, with the butt of the gun sticking out in plain view. Then she got on her knees, scooped up dirt from the floor and carefully rubbed the gleaming gun with the dirt.

Then she got up, brushed the earth from her hands and brushed down her clothes and turned to leave.

_The barn door slammed shut and she gave a gasp as he heart began to hammer against her chest._

Then the door moved again, creaking open and she laughed; _it was just the wind..._

Then Violet left the barn and closed the doors, leaving the padlock loose hanging from the broken chain, she stepped back and smiled, guessing the wind could easily be blamed for busting some old rusty chain...

Then she made her way off the property, through the trees and back where her car was parked.

Then Violet set off for home, glad to be away from that creepy place.

It had already given her a fright and she didn't scare easily – _she could only imagine what finding the shotgun would do to Marv when he found it..._

* * *

Next morning Vera was in a much brighter mood after Marv had woken her up with gentle kisses.

She had reached for him and he had seen desire in her eyes, but he had reminded her he still just didn't feel right, then he had told her he loved her, kissed her to reinforce that statement, and she had accepted this and kissed him back, then they had got up and started their day.

After breakfast Elise was out into the garden, at first fascinated by the sundial and then playing on the old swing.

Vera was clearing away the breakfast plates as Marv stood by the back door watching his daughter on the swing.

"So what do you want to do today?" She wondered, "How about if we go into town?"

Marv shook his head.

"Not right now, pumpkin. I still don't feel right; I think I'll just stay home."

Vera didn't want to take this as a negative response.

"Well there's nothing wrong with that," She replied, "It's a beautiful day and Elise is having fun in the garden. Maybe you could take a look in the attic?"

And Marv looked at her sharply.

_"Why?"_

Vera laughed as she saw the look of alarm on his face.

"Don't tell me I've got to come with you in case there are more _spiders!_"

She was still smiling but Marv was not.

"Okay, I'll do that." He said quietly, "I guess I'll have to do it sooner or later..."

And he turned away from the back door and started to walk out of the kitchen.

Vera took soapy hands out of the kitchen sink and stared at him.

"Where are you going?"

He glanced back at her.

"The attic. I might as well do it now."

Then he left the room.

Vera heard him walking slowly up the stairs and she wished she had never mentioned the damned attic; now he would probably be up there all day... _he wasn't right, there was something about him that just was'nt right and it was bothering her but she couldn't pin it down to anything specific._

Vera gave a sigh and turned back to the sink and carried on washing up the dishes.

* * *

Marv pulled down the ladder and secured it, then he looked up into the dark hatch that led to the attic space; this was a place he was _not_ looking forward to exploring... He hadn't even been up here after he had first picked up the house keys; he just didn't _want_ to be up here with the dust and the past and the shadows...

There was a wide circular window set in the farthest wall of the attic and it let a lot of light come streaming in.

But that didn't make him feel any better as he reached the top of the ladder and climbed into the attic room.

The room was bright enough; there was nothing creepy or shadowy about it at all. The walls were lined with old furniture and boxes full of stuff that he could only imagine might be inside, they were all folded shut.

He walked over to an old, heavy wardrobe and opened it up: There were some clothes hanging up inside it; a few long floral dresses and some winter coats.

Marv ran his hand along the row of mixed fabrics and then stopped, coming to the other side of the wardrobe:

There were some men's clothes in here, too...

He took out a long, black leather coat and ran his hand over the leather, then he smelled it.

_The coat was still good, it was vintage by today's standards but vintage was cool these days, wasn't it?_

The lapels were more like a jacket style and the buttons were silver.

Marv looked at the jacket for a moment and smiled; _yes, he wanted to keep this..._

Then his gaze wandered over to an old blanket box. It was covered with faded pink padded material and when he opened it and saw neatly folded little dresses he felt a wave of sadness. He reached in and took one out, it was long and white with coffee colored roses printed on it and as he unfolded it, the skirt fell into three tiers, each one edged with tiny lace trim - fashionable back in the day but now more like a party dress for a little girl...

"_Oh Wow Dad!"_ Elise exclaimed, scrambling up the ladder and into the attic before he had a chance to stop her, _"Neat dress! Can I wear it?"_

"No..."

He had spoken too late, Elise had snatched the dress from him and she was holding it up, then she held it up against herself and spun around as the light shone through the attic window.

"I want to wear this!" She exclaimed.

"Its not yours." Marv reminded her.

Elise gave him a look, a determined look that so reflected Vera when she was determined about something.

"_Did it come with the house?"_

"Well yes, but –"

"Then I can have it, just like the rocking horse and all the other stuff in my bedroom –_that_ all came with the house too!"

Marv gave a sigh.

"Okay." He replied, shutting the box and fastening it tightly, "You can have the dress. But nothing _else_, okay?"

Elise smiled.

"Thanks Dad!" She said, then she went back over to the hatch and carefully got back onto the ladder with the dress in her hand.

"Are you okay getting down the ladder?" He wondered.

By now she was already climbing down.

"I'm fine Dad!" She called back.

Then he heard her jump off the bottom rung and her feet made a soft thumping sound as she safely reached the floor.

"And don't come up here again." Marv called back to her.

"Okay!" Elise replied, then she hurried off down the hallway once more.

Marv stood in the silent attic and looked around: there wasn't much up here except for some old furniture and old memories of the people who used to live here.

Then he went over to the old boxes, got down on his knees on the dusty floor and opened up a couple of the boxes.

There was not a lot in them; old china, some drinking glasses... then he moved on to the larger box.

As he opened it up he reached inside and took out a framed picture.

He held it up and studied it:

A big, powerfully built man with dark hair sat on a sofa with his arm around a slender blonde woman in a floral dress. Their daughter was sitting beside her mother and smiling for the camera... there was a black shadowy shape that blocked out the corner of the picture; the person taking it had _not_ been good with cameras; the picture had been spoiled by a finger partly covering the lens but it hadn't mattered; this was a happy picture and they had framed it and hung it up anyway...

_They were all dead now; they'd been dead for years... _

Marv's gaze shifted across the picture to the fireplace that had been partially caught in the photograph: There it was, hanging up above the fire:

_Freddie's shotgun..._

Marv looked back at the image of the man on the sofa, a man not unlike himself, a man who loved his family, who would have done anything to protect them...

_"Why did you do it?"_ He murmured as he looked at his image, _"Why did you do it over debts, and why the hell did you take your family with you?"_

That was something he just didn't understand; he knew what depression could do, he knew it first hand from his own experiences- but he wouldn't kill himself, let alone his family over the house getting repossessed...to Marv that was just plain crazy...

_But what if Vera found out about him and Violet?_

_What would he do then?_

_Maybe kill himself._

_But not Vera, not Elise..._

Marv took in a sharp breath and he shook his head, silently reminding himself to stop the crazy thoughts...

Then he carefully set the picture down on the floor and reached into the box once more.

As he unfolded the newspaper that was yellowed with age, he looked at the article splashed all over the front page:

_Night of Horror: family wiped out..._

Marv took a deep breath and started to read, even though he had already heard all the details and knew the story well: the paper had told the truth, there were no dramatic additions made up by the press to sensationalize the story, the facts had just been laid out as they stood:

_Frederick Montgomery had been suffering from depression due to debts mounting up that had seen him faced with the fact that he would lose the family home within a month. So he had let the horses go and burned the stables. Then he had gone back into the house while his family were sleeping and shot his wife and daughter in their beds, before going out to the barn and ending his own life..._

Marv shook his head; the irony was, after his death, Pauline Montgomery's mother had cleared the debts and hung onto the house that her daughter had loved so much... Why the hell hadn't he gone to her and asked for help? He'd been a proud man - but so proud that he couldn't ask for help with _money?_ How could this have happened over money?

Marv took in a sharp breath as another thought hit him:

_People killed themselves for reasons worse than debt..._

And he was sure if Vera found out, if Violet told him that he'd raped her that night at the party, he would _have_ to kill himself, there was no other way out of that mess, not if she told her...

Marv folded the paper and put it back in the box; the past was creeping up on him, getting to him in a bad way and he wished those pills he took that were supposed to keep his head together would just block all this shit out because he was getting crazy thoughts, thoughts that wouldn't go away...

He wondered if he ought to call his doctor.

The he cancelled that thought; he wanted to be here with his family, not locked up in a hospital again...

"_You can handle this."_ He said quietly, "You _can _handle it, Marv. Just don't think about crazy shit..."

Then he picked up the framed picture and carefully opened up the back of it, sliding the photograph out.

He put the empty frame back in the box and folded the picture and put it in his pocket.

He wasn't sure why he wanted to keep it other than the fact that the photo showed a picture of a happy family and that was how he preferred to think of them, happy together... _Anything was better than thinking of them all cold in the ground, dead from shot gun wounds while the worms ate their flesh, while they disintegrated and-_

Marv stood up sharply and dragged in some air as his heart raced in panic at the thought of them all in their coffins... _a coffin for Mommy, a coffin for Daddy, a little one for Sylvia..._

"_Stop it!"_ He said aloud, then he brushed the dust from his jeans, grabbed the leather coat and went back to the hatch, climbing quickly down the ladder once more.

When he reached the bottom he shoved the ladder back up and the hatch closed.

Then he heard Vera and Elise talking and laughing in the hallway and felt instantly relieved to be back in the present, where nobody was dead, where he was safe from bad thoughts and surrounded by his family...

* * *

He went back down the stairs and followed the sounds of their voices as they drifted further way – they were back out in the garden now.

Vera had the hose on and she was watering the newly cut grass.

She turned and smiled at him

"Find anything interesting up there?" She wondered.

Marv shook his head.

"No, just old junk." He replied quietly.

Then he looked down the garden.

Elise was on the swing. She had changed into the dress from the attic.

"That's a nice old dress." Vera said to him as she watched her daughter on the swing, "Are there any more clothes up there?"

"I found a leather coat." Marv said, "It's slightly big for me but I like it..."

He sounded like his thoughts were far off. He was watching Elise on the swing as she played on the dead girl's swing wearing the dead girl's dress.

_"Marv?"_

He looked at Vera and silently hoped one day when the truth came out she would understand why they'd come here- _but maybe it wouldn't matter by then, not if Violet told her everything..._

"What?" He replied quietly.

"It's getting warm out here – do you want some lemonade with ice?"

Marv nodded.

Vera went back inside and he shifted his gaze from his daughter on the swing, trying to block out the thoughts that kept creeping back:

He was thinking about those coffins again; _three of them..._

_After _Violet had done her damage...

_Three coffins, one for Daddy, one for Mommy..._

_ And a little one for Elise..._

Marv caught his breath and shook his head.

"_Stop it!"_ He said quietly, wising he could push away the unwanted thoughts that were starting to plague him.

"_Daddy?"_

Elise had got off the swing and she was hurrying over to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, "You looked like you felt dizzy."

And then her eyes widened in fear.

"I want you to sit down right now, I don't want you to fall over or you might hurt yourself like you did in jail!"

"No honey, I'm fine." He promised her.

Vera was back now.

She pushed the cold glass of lemonade into his hand and the chill brought him back into the moment as he looked down at Elise and saw tears in her eyes.

"Honey I'm not dizzy, and I won't _ever _hurt myself if I fell over again – I'd _never_ hurt myself like I did in prison."

"What's this?"

Vera looked at her daughter.

Elise was still tearful.

"_Daddy looked like he felt dizzy. Mommy, we can't let him fall over, not again! He might get badly hurt like he did in prison!"_

Vera gave a sigh.

"Honey, your Dad's fine; I'm here. Go inside and help to yourself to some ice cream, okay?"

"How much?" Elise wondered.

"As much as you like, just don't eat _too_ much of it, okay?"

"Thanks!" Elise said, and she ran back towards the kitchen doorway.

Now she was out of sight Vera gave a heavy sigh as she looked a Marv.

"What have we done?" She said to him, "I thought keeping the truth from her was the best thing to do – now I've got a daughter who's scared to let you out of her sight in case you _fall over_!"

The thoughts that scared him had left him alone now.

Marv thought about what Vera had just said.

"You're right." He admitted, "Maybe we should tell her the truth – I mean, we can tell her _carefully._"

Vera gave another weary sigh.

"Come on," She said to him, "We'd better get this over with right now..."

* * *

Elise had finished a bowl of ice cream when Vera called her into the front room.

Moments later she came in and sat on the couch still wearing the dress from the attic as she looked at her Dad with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Mom said you want to tell me something?"

Vera had sat down now too, and as he looked at both of them sitting together on the couch he felt guilty to think about all the things they didn't know – but right now he just wanted to explain the truth to Elise, to stop her worrying so much.

"Daddy and me didn't tell you the whole story about how he got hurt." Vera said to her daughter, "We thought it was the best thing to do but now we realize it's better to tell you the truth because we don't want you to worry about your Dad."

And she looked at Marv.

As he met his daughter's gaze he gave a sigh.

"Oh I'm sorry, Elise!" He said to her," I didn't know saying that stuff about me falling over would scare you so much. So here's the truth- prison is not a nice place. It's scary and it's dangerous, too. And while I was in jail this guy who decided he didn't like me – _even though he didn't know a thing about me_ – got together with one of his friends and they got me on my own and they beat me up very badly. I almost died because they hurt me so bad. That's why I've got the scars."

Elise nodded; it all made sense and she was glad her Dad had been honest with her.

Then she asked a question he wasn't ready to answer.

"What about your arms?" She wondered, "How did you get all those scars?"

And Marv and Vera looked at each other lost for words...

Then Elise spoke up again.

"One of my friends at school, her big sister got really depressed when she broke up with her boyfriend and she cut her arms, I know because my friend told me all about it. _I think your scars are a lot like hers, Dad._"

Marv gave a heavy sigh.

"I was very sick, Elise. I was so depressed I never thought I'd get better again."

"So you did it yourself when you were sick?"

Marv nodded.

"_Sorry."_ He said tearfully.

Elise was off the couch and over to him in a second, putting her arms around him as she gave him a big hug.

"It's okay Dad," She said kindly, "That's all in the past now – you're not in jail any more, you're home with us- and we love you."

And she gave him a hug as Vera breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that her daughter had taken the truth so well. It was starting to dawn on her that Elise was right; she _didn't_ miss much - and she was growing up far quicker than she had realized; she understood more than she had first thought she could, and now she knew that she knew she would never lie or cover up anything again, because her daughter deserved nothing less than the truth...

* * *

The mood lifted in the house after Marv had spoken to Elise about what had really happened in jail; Vera noticed he seemed happier and when she went back outside in the garden with Elise, she smiled and said she thought it was a great idea that he wanted to check out the old barn at last.

Marv reminded Vera that Elise was to keep right away from the place because it was old and probably dangerous - and Vera had promised him she would keep an eye on her; she _wouldn't_ be wandering off again like she had when she'd sneaked up into the attic...

Marv followed the path around the side of the house, past the old apple trees and into the clearing.

Then he stopped and looked at the old barn that seemed to loom up ghostly out of the ground; it was so old and neglected now but at least it was still standing. He took a step towards the locked doors, still getting the feeling that the thing was looming over him, as if he might look up and get overwhelmed by the place, like his head would spin and he would fall to his knees...

_No, he wasn't going to let it get to him, it was just the thought of what happened here so long ago:_ _it was just an old barn..._

Then Marv frowned as he saw the chain that had held the doors was broken. He was pretty sure it had been secure last time he looked – but the chains were old and the high winds recently could have snapped them - he guessed that was what had happened - after all, he hadn't got _this_ close to the place until today...

Marv looked down at the rusted chains, then he reached out and pulled at them, they slid to the ground with a loud clatter, then the doors creaked as they parted a fraction.

He took a deep breath and grabbed one of the doors and pulled it open.

Sunlight rushed in lighting up an otherwise dark old place; but it was the same here as the attic; there was little room for shadow because the barn was empty except for some old boxes over in the corner that were filled with rusted up tools...

He walked into the barn and stood in the middle of the floor space and looked around: _No, there were no ghosts here, only the kind that could crawl out from the imagination..._

Then his gaze fell on something behind the boxes.

Marv felt his mouth go dry as he walked over to the far end of the barn, pushed aside a heavy box and stared down at the dirt-smeared shotgun:

_What the hell was it doing here?_

_Wouldn't the cops have taken the murder weapon away as evidence?_

Marv took in an uneasy breath as he picked up the weapon and cautiously checked it; he breathed a sigh of relief as he realized it was not loaded.

Then he thought about the gun some more: _Freddie had always wanted to protect his family that was the reason he'd bought a gun... and a gun was worthless without ammo, anyway..._

_It was starting to feel good in his hands._

He wondered if he ought to clean it up; he could do it here in the barn, no one would ever know it was there and it would be good to have a weapon around the place, just in case an intruder broke in, after all they were pretty far away from the nearest neighbors...

_He didn't want to think about the gun any more._

Marv put it back behind the boxes and tucked it well out of sight, turned and left the barn and closed the doors and wrapped the chain around them.

He couldn't lock it up properly but he had secured it well enough to keep the doors shut tight against the wind when it came up again...

* * *

Moments later Vera came out of the house and asked him where he was going as he got into the car.

Marv smiled.

"I'm just going into town, pumpkin." He told her, "I won't be long."

Vera smiled; it was good to see Marv getting out of the house at last...

"Okay, see you soon." She said to him

_Then Marv drove off heading for the town, heading for the local gun store, because he needed to buy a box of shells for a twelve gauge shotgun..._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_The days passed quietly._

For Vera, they passed a little_ too_ quietly; it was starting to get to her that they were set apart from neighbors, that the town was a short drive away – she had always lived in an urban environment and now, what had seemed at first like rural bliss was starting to bother her.

She didn't feel it was something she should complain about because she had a life now that she never would have imagined possible a short time ago:

_Here she was, no longer stuck living with her sister, her heart aching every day because she couldn't even admit the truth that she still loved Marv – yet now she was back with him, they had a home of their own and they were a family – but something wasn't right –not in the sense that something was missing or out of place...she just couldn't figure it out, but something was wrong somewhere... Or maybe it was just her own imagination getting to her because she wasn't used to so much peace and quiet... That was what it was, it had to be. She couldn't think of any other reason why she would be feeling this way..._

She was in the garden, watching her daughter playing.

_Elise loved the garden. Seeing her daughter so happy in their new home was almost enough to take her mind off the things that bothered her – the main thing bothering her was Marv, he had been so quiet and edgy since they had moved in and that didn't make sense, either. _

_But her husband had suffered mental illness on and off for years and she was sure if he was really having a problem he would talk to her about it..._

"Vera..."

As he said her name she turned sharply, catching her breath.

Marv blinked.

"Sorry, pumpkin! I didn't mean to make you jump!"

Vera laughed off her own nervousness, again not sure what to make of how she was feeling.

_She sure hoped the both of them were not going crazy..._

"I was miles away, just thinking about things." She said.

Then she noticed there was a rather intense look in Marv's eyes.

"What's the matter, honey?"

"I don't think I'm going to feel any happier until I get this over and done with." He told her, "I want you to ask Vi to come over tomorrow."

He saw the surprised look in Vera's eyes and he hoped she would do what he asked – Vi wouldn't come over again if he invited her, it would have to come from Vera - but he had thought about nothing else for days and the more he thought of Vi the more the thought about how she _had_ to forgive him, he had to ask her to do that – _because there was only one alternative if she decided to tell Vera what really happened that night..._

The threat of Vi telling Vera what happened had hung over him since the night if the party; it had hung over him until the day they married and the worry had still been there after he had gone to jail. But when she _still_ hadn't said anything he had assumed she had chosen to spare her sister the hurt of knowing the truth, simply because he was in jail and out of her life – but things were different now and he wasn't sure how she felt about that.

_All he knew for sure was that Vi still hated him._

"I don't know if I should." Vera replied, "I don't want her coming over to stay and spending several days stressing you out. You've not been right lately - I'm not sure if I should do that."

Marv looked at her pleadingly.

"I really need to try and get along with her. It would mean a lot to me just to know that I've tried. Can you understand that? I mean she's family, we can't ignore her forever and if I can't try and get along with her it's not fair on Elise, it's not fair for her to think that me and Vi don't get along."

Vera gave a sigh.

"Okay, Marv! I'll call her. But if this goes wrong remember I told you I thought it was a bad idea- I just hope I don't wind up having a big fight with her and throwing her out. You know I hate the way she talks to you."

"I think that's going to change." Marv said, sounding very sure of himself.

Vera looked at him doubtfully, but Marv just smiled; _she didn't know how determined he was, she didn't even know what this was about. But he would beg her forgiveness, he would beg on his knees to Vi if he had to- there was no other choice, not if he wanted to keep his family and protect them from the truth..._

* * *

A short while later, after Vera had got off the phone after brief conversation with her sister, she went back out into the garden and told her daughter that Auntie Vi would be coming to stay tomorrow.

Then she asked her where Daddy was.

"He said he was going to do some work on the barn." Elise replied.

That surprised Vera - _he was thinking about renovating the barn?_

Then she smiled as she thought about her husband, who was finally keeping busy and doing something positive.

"Maybe he wants to fix it up like new." She replied, and then she went back into the house feeling a little less worried about Marv now she knew he was working on something...

* * *

Marv had gone into the barn and pushed the doors shut, then shoved the bolt across the inside to make sure no one would disturb him.

Then he got the shot gun out and gave it a polish; he cleaned it every day, he checked it, made sure it was in good working order.

_He wasn't sure why he was doing it, but he needed to know the gun was okay..._

The barn was shadowy with the doors closed but the small windows let in some light.

They were high up and the glass was dirty so he couldn't clean them without a ladder, but at least no one could look in and see what he was doing...

He had arranged the boxes so that he could sit on one while the other two were pushed together up against the wall; this was where he had pinned the picture to the wall- the picture of Freddie and his family.

Marv stopped cleaning the gun and looked up at the picture.

"I know you were all a happy family once." He said aloud, "I can see that, I know that too. I wish I could understand why you did it."

And he looked harder at the picture, into the smiling image of the eyes of the man who was long dead.

_"I have a daughter."_

As Marv spoke his voice sounded hollow in the emptiness of the barn, _"Her name is Elise. And I've got a wife, too. I've loved Vera from the day I first met her. I can't imagine picking up this gun I'm holding right now and shooting either of them!"_

And he glared at the picture as his voice darkened.

"Why did you do it?" He demanded, "_Why_ did you kill them if you loved them so much?"

Then the silence hit him and Marv breathed deeply, closing his eyes as he tried to push away the rising aggression that was coursing through his body.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking back at the picture, "But I'm _so_ fucking angry when I think about what you did. _Actually, I'm in a bit of a tricky situation myself_..."

And suddenly it seemed so much easier to have this one way conversation; it almost seemed as if the dead could hear him...

He started to relax a little as he looked at the man in the picture.

"I think I messed up, I mean I screwed up _really _badly..."

Then tears filled his eyes and his body shook as he gave a sob.

"It's not Vera. I _love_ my wife, I loved her since the day I first met her! But she had this kid sister who wouldn't leave me alone. I tried to take no notice...well, it was flattering at first but then she started to bother me. I don't mean like she turned me on, I mean she bothered me, she made me feel uncomfortable. It was like she was stalking me or something."

He thought about what he had just said and shook his head as he wiped his eyes.

"It's crazy. Most guys, they'd be flattered, wouldn't they? Most guys would love the idea that some teenage girl won't leave 'em alone. But not me, I wasn't interested. I didn't want to cheat on Vera. Then one night after a party, I woke up and she was on the bed with me and she was on top of me and I pushed her away. _I know I got mad at her because she was..._"

He drew in a sharp breath as he gripped the gun tighter in both hands as anger reflected in his eyes.

"I was blind drunk that night. Okay, I admit it, I'd taken a couple of pills too... but I was pretty wrecked. I saw her the next day and her face was black and blue. She said I did it. _And she said I raped her._"

Then he sat in silence for a moment as he studied the photograph.

"But I don't remember." He added, "I wouldn't be surprised if she said I'd tried to kill her, I was so mad at her when I woke up and she was there and she was all over me...she wouldn't _stop!_ I told her to stop but she wouldn't stop and I couldn't move, I was too wasted to move! She just kept on touching me and I _hated _it, I _hated_ every minute of it! I know people can do crazy things when they get angry, but as soon as I realized it was her on the bed with me I wasn't excited any more. _I just wanted her hell out of my bed. I don't know what could have made me change so much that I'd want to rape anyone – I can't even imagine getting hard over her!_"

Then he sobbed again as he kept a grip on the gun.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this," He said to the man in the picture, "Nobody knows my secrets. _My own wife doesn't even know me!_"

And nothing came back at him but silence, as if the dead were reminding him they couldn't speak – or maybe it was just that he needed to listen harder...

"I'm scared." He said as he fixed his gaze on the dead man's image, "I'm scared Violet's gonna tell Vera everything, because Vi hates me for what I did, she's hated me ever since that night! That's why I've asked her to come back over to the house. I'm going to try and make peace with her. Do _you_ think that's the best thing to do? I think that's what you would have done..."

And Marv blinked and more tears ran down his face as he looked at the picture of Freddie Montgomery and his voice became sharp with anger.

"_Vera thinks I bought this house. She doesn't know the truth – she doesn't know I inherited it after Grandma died! She thinks Molly Merchants was my Mom, she doesn't even know I was adopted by the Merchants after you shot Momma and Sylvie! I only hung on to this place so I had something to give her, something to keep her with me!"_

Then Marv wiped his eyes again.

He took a deep breath and composed himself, knowing all the anger in the world could not undo the night his father killed his family on that night the stables had burned...

Then Marv lowered his voice as he looked into the eyes of his father.

"_I was five years old when it happened. I woke up because I could hear the horses and I looked out of the window I saw them running wild and the stables were on fire.I ran out to tell you but then I heard the gun go off and I saw you coming out of Momma's room. You went into Sylvie's room and shot her and that's when I ran! I hid in the spare room and I saw you go into my room and you called out to me, you said you didn't wanna play..."_

Marv was shaking as he continued to recall the memory that turned his blood to ice:

"_You couldn't find me because I went back into my sister's room. I hid under the bed and Sylvie's blood was leaking through the mattress and dripping down on me, but I hid because I knew you wouldn't look for me in there, because you'd already shot my big sister..."_

He blinked away the tears that burned his vision, keeping his gazed fixed on the image of his smiling father back in the days before he had gone insane.

"I heard the gunshot a little while later, I heard it somewhere outside. I didn't know you'd killed yourself. I thought maybe you'd started shooting the horses. I just stayed under that bed. I stayed there for two days until Grandma came over and found the stables burned, that's when she called the cops! And they found Momma and Sylvie dead. And I was under the bed; I was so scared I couldn't speak. Instead I'd scratched it into the wall until my fingers bled: _Save me! _And that was how our family ended, Daddy. _You killed everyone except me!_"

And Marv drew in an exhausted breath.

"I don't know if this is working out, Daddy. I think in a way I'm getting worse by coming back here. I know Vi's driving me crazy but I'm scared I might turn out to be as crazy as _you_ were."

Then Marv felt his anger slide away as he looked at the face of his father and other memories crowded him of happy family times long gone.

"But I know it; I know for sure - you're _not _totally to blame, Daddy. You were sick and you didn't know it. I get the same thing but I got treatment for it. I don't think I'll ever be totally together because people like you and me, we just can't do it, can we? We start losing it when things go wrong and I know how bad it can get. But I never thought I'd be as scared as I am now – I _kind _of know how you felt, thinking you might lose your family. I'm in a similar position for different reasons."

And Marv gave a heavy sigh as he got up and carefully hid the gun behind the boxes once more.

Then he stepped back and looked at his father's picture again.

"I used to think I was nothing like you." He told him, "But I've had a lot of years to think about it and try and understand."

And then he managed a smile.

"I never thought I'd be anything like you at all."

And he ran his hands down the long leather coat he was wearing.

"But I guess I was wrong. I mean, look at me now – _I didn't think your coat would fit me, but it does..._"

Then the barn doors rattled.

Marv glanced back quickly as he heard Elise calling him.

"Just a minute, honey!" He called back to his daughter, then he folded the picture, stuck it in his coat pocket and took off the coat and draped it over the top of the boxes.

* * *

Moments later he pulled back the inside bolt and came out of the barn.

Elise was looking up at him with curiosity in her eyes.

"What are you doing in there?" She wondered.

"Oh, a lot of things." Marv said, quickly shutting the door and wrapping the chain around it, "And you mustn't go in there, it's dangerous. I'm doing some work in there, fixing the place up. I was thinking I might turn it into a guest house for when people come to stay, what do you think?"

Elise stared at him.

"You can do that kind of thing?"

Marv nodded.

"Sure, with the right equipment and enough time I could do that easily. I learned all about construction when I was in jail. I learned it so I had a skill so I could get a proper job some day."

They were walking through the garden back towards the house now.

"Can I see what you've done to the barn?" Elise asked him.

"No." Marv said, "It's a surprise. Even Mommy can't look, not for a long time_... it's something I need to do all by myself_..."

And then they went back inside the house, and Elise forgot all about the barn and went upstairs to play in her room.

* * *

Next day Vera left early to go shopping and she took Elise with her.

She wanted to be sure that she would be home for when Vi turned up, and her sister had said she wasn't leaving until eleven, so she had plenty of time.

Marv had asked her if she was sure she would be here when Vi arrived, then Vera had given him that doubtful look again and asked him if _he_ was sure he wanted her to come and stay- but he had just nodded and told her he was very sure, because he needed to do this...

Then the car was gone from the drive and Marv was all alone in the house once more.

He went upstairs and looked out the window at the barn and wondered if he ought to go in there again, just to talk to his father.

He felt that maybe he needed to because Vi was turning up today...but what could his father do?

He couldn't speak, he was dead.

_The only way his father could be here was to become him..._

It was a crazy thought but Marv decided to embrace it rather than push it away because the crazy thoughts that bothered him always came back any way; that kind of stuff _never _let him alone these days...

_He thought about it:_

His Daddy would have spoken to Vi, apologized, he would have made sure she understood that he regretted his actions and he knew he had to do the same.

_He had to do it because if he didn't, if Vi told Vera the truth, he would be dying just like his father, in the barn, with the shotgun..._

Marv was still trying to straighten out his thinking and untangle the confusion from the parts that made sense when the doorbell rang.

He glanced at his watch and guessed Vera had forgotten something and come back for it –probably her cell phone, she was always leaving it lying around the place...

But when he opened the door he stared at the caller in shock:

_It wasn't Vera..._

Violet looked back at him with eyes like ice.

"Hi Marv." She said coldly, "Is my sister home?"

He was still staring at her; he wasn't sure how long the silence went on but then she pushed past him and went into the house.

* * *

Marv's heart was hammering in his chest and he was breaking out in a sweat as the scars on his arms began to crawl and all he could think about was scratching all over again.

As he closed the door his hand shook.

"Vera went shopping with Elise." He said nervously, "She won't be long. She thought you were coming up here later on today."

"I changed my mind." Violet said.

Then she smiled.

"So, what's it been like, living in this old house? Have you found anything interesting?"

Marv thought about the shot gun; _he wasn't sure how it got there but he got the feeling it was from his Daddy, so it was a secret he wasn't about to share with anyone – least of all Violet..._

"No." He stated.

Vi looked back at him, saw an odd look in his eyes and for a reason she couldn't define a chill shot down her spine:

_Why would he lie about the gun? It was almost as if he wanted to keep it a secret..._

"I'm going to wait in the kitchen till they get back." She stated, then she left her bags in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs and walked through to the kitchen.

Marv ran his fingers through his hair as he paced the hallway, thinking about his plan: He had a chance to do it now, while his wife and daughter were both out – he _had _to do it now, get it over and done with...

* * *

His nerves felt raw as he walked into the kitchen.

Violet was making some coffee and she had her back to him.

"Vi," He said nervously, "I...I have to talk to you...about...you know, that _thing_ that happened with us."

Violet stared at him.

_All of a sudden, Marv was making her feel very, very uneasy._

_It wasn't like him to be so direct, to drag up the past like this._

_It wasn't like him to have such a crazy, desperate look in his eyes, either..._

"We both know what happened." She said quietly.

"_NO!"_ Marv yelled, "_WE don't! I don't remember what you said I did; I don't remember any of it!"_

And suddenly Violet realized she was seeing a very different side to the man she had enjoyed tormenting for so long.

She stepped back a little as he took a step closer.

"Why are you bringing the past up now? You know you _raped_ me!"

The accusation hit him like a freight train and he blinked back tears.

"I don't see how I could have." He said as his voice trembled, "I _never_ wanted you, Vi! I loved Vera, I _still_ love Vera!"

She looked away from the pain in his dark blue eyes.

"And Vera loves _you_ – that's why I never told her."

Marv's eyes narrowed as suspicion crept into his voice.

"But if I'd raped you, I think you would have told her. You wouldn't have let _that _go! You wouldn't have let my sister marry a guy who was capable of something like that!"

Violet was still looking down at the floor as she stood with her arms folded and her back up tight against the wall.

"I was traumatized. I didn't know what to do. Then she married you and next thing I knew she was pregnant- she seemed so happy. I didn't want to wreck her life like you wrecked mine."

Violet was still avoiding his gaze.

Then she heard him give a sob and she finally looked at him.

Then she stared at him: Marv was on the floor on his knees.

"_Please,"_ He begged her tearfully, "_Please_ forgive me, Vi! I was drunk that night, I didn't know what I was doing, I don't remember! _I am so sorry, look, let me show you how sorry I am_ –"

And he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt.

Her eyes grew wider as she saw the vertical scars, so many of them that ran from his wrist to his elbow.

"I _hate _myself or what I did to you!" He said as he wept_," I tried to kill myself when I was in jail because I kept thinking about it! I kept thinking about how I must have pinned you down and held you there while I did those things to you and then I looked at my arms and I just wanted to cut them and cut them until I couldn't feel pain any more!"_

And as he looked up at her with tears blurring his vision, the color drained from her face.

"_Oh shit..." _She whispered.

Confusion clouded his eyes.

"_Please... forgive me because I can't live without Vera! If she found out what I did to you she'd go, she'd take Elise and I don't wanna die, I don't want to die, Violet! Maybe I deserve to but I don't want to, I want to be here with the people I love –"_

His words were cut off as he was stunned into silence.

Violet had dropped to her knees and grabbed him, gently rocking him in her arms.

"_I'm so sorry!"_ He sobbed.

"Shh, please stop it." Violet said,"_Please_ don't be like this...oh shit, I never wanted _this_ to happen..."

She put her hand to the back of his head and gently stroked his hair as he pressed his face against her shoulder.

"Maybe I don't deserve your forgiveness." He said in a shaky voice.

"No, Marv..." She said carefully, "I _know _you're sorry. And you're with Vera and you're a great Daddy to Elise, I wouldn't say anything to screw that up for you or for them!"

Then she pulled back from embracing him and gently raised his face to force him to look into her eyes.

"You _have_ to pull yourself together." She said quietly as she wiped the tears from his face, "What would my sister think if she saw us like this, if she saw you so upset?"

Marv felt utterly confused, but he also felt too shattered and emotionally drained to do anything but let her take charge of him.

"Come on," She said as she got up and took hold of his hands, "Get off the floor, Marv."

She helped him up and kept hold of his hand as she led him out into the hallway.

"What are you doing?" He said, sounding as confused as he felt.

"I'm taking you in the bathroom." She said quietly, leading him across the hall.

Then she opened the door and they went into the downstairs bathroom.

* * *

As Marv sat on the edge of the bath she ran some water, then she gently wiped his face, washing away the tear stains from his cheeks.

"How can you be so nice to me?" He said, still sounding tearful.

As she turned her back to turn off the water a smile crept onto her face that he didn't see.

"You know how I've always felt about you." She said, "I guess what happened that night pushed you too far."

And she turned around and looked at him again.

"I was in love with you." She said softly, "I don't mean a crush –I _really_ loved you and it ripped my heart out seeing you with my sister. I know I came on a bit too strong, I know I wouldn't stop when you asked me to – I didn't realize you were so drunk. I didn't _know _things could turn as bad as they did. I was only sixteen, I knew _nothing._.."

She sounded so forgiving but knowing that wasn't making him feel any better – he was _still _hurting at the thought of what he had done and her forgiveness couldn't take that away; it couldn't lift off the guilt that weighed down so heavy in his heart...

Then her hands were on his shoulders.

"Marv," She said gently, "I think maybe you should go upstairs and have a lie down. Do you have pills you need to take when you don't feel so good?"

He nodded.

"Okay." She said, "Go upstairs, take your pills and have a little sleep."

As she let go of him Marv nodded.

"I'll do that." He said quietly.

Then he left the bathroom.

* * *

Violet waited until she heard him go up the stairs, then she gave a heavy sigh as she stood alone in the bright bathroom with the dolphin mosaic that glittered as sunbeams filtered their way through the frosted glass.

She looked in the mirror and felt uneasy as she saw into her own eyes; she had never thought too deeply about it until now, but she had told a lie a long time ago because she was mad at him, because she was hurting – she hadn't realized it would have caused _this_ much damage...

_And she had never thought about it until this day, but as she looked into the mirror she knew she was looking to the eyes of liar..._

Violet went back to the kitchen and made the coffee.

Then the phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hi." She said brightly.

"Violet?" Vera sounded surprised "I thought you said you were coming over later on?"

"I changed my mind, I left early."

"Where's Marv?" Vera wondered.

Violet lowered her voice.

"He's fine, Vera. He had a head ache, so he went for a lie down. But he's just fine. And don't worry about me and him- I won't be clashing with him any more. We've had a talk- we both wanted to clear the air."

"_You did?"_

Vera didn't sound too convinced.

"Yes we did." Vi replied, "And I think we'll be getting on a lot better from now on. I didn't realize he's been through so much when he was in jail - now I've heard all that from him, I feel so sorry for the guy! Anyway, how's the shopping going?"

"Elise is dragging me round a toy store right as we speak!"

"Okay, well have fun. I'll see you when you get back, Sis. How long will you be? I was thinking I might call out for a pizza and we could all have lunch together..."

"I'll be about an hour." Vera replied.

Then Vi listened as her sister turned away slightly from the phone and told Elise Auntie Vi was getting pizza in for lunch.

"Yay!" She said, and Vi laughed.

"See you soon." She told her, then she put the phone down.

* * *

And then Violet stood in the now silent kitchen as she thought about Marv...

_She could still remember getting on the bed with him, running her hands over him, kissing him gently and then sliding his belt open and reaching into his pants... and he had smiled and murmured Vera's name._

_Then she had sat on top of him, slowly moving up and down, taking advantage of Vera's handsome boyfriend, that bad ass burglar who she had the hots for..._

_Until he opened his eyes and saw her._

Marv had glared at her.

"_Get off me!"_ He snapped, giving her a weak shove.

She had giggled and stayed right where she was, moving against him and getting a high from the way he had struggled in vain to escape her.

"_You know you want me really..."_ She had whispered.

"_I said get off me!" _Marv had yelled, and this time he had shoved her with more force, pushing her off him so hard she fell on the floor with a thump.

Booze numbed out some of the pain but as she staggered to her feet she had felt nothing but rage at his rejection.

"Don't be stupid, Marv –you _can't_ stop me..."

_She had stepped towards the bed._

_She had drunkenly caught her high heeled shoe in the bottom of the sheet, staggered and fallen hard, smashing her face against the dresser._

_And Marv was still telling her to get the fuck out of his bedroom..._

_She was young, she was stupid and she was angry and sore and that rejection had hurt as much as her face did the next day._

_It was so true that hell had no fury like a woman scorned..._

To this day she didn't know how she could have said something so evil, but she had said it, she had looked him in the eye and said:

"_You did this to me; you did this right before you raped me!"_

* * *

As Violet stood in the kitchen and thought about it, her biggest fear started to grow and she thought about it some more:

_If Vera found out what she had done to Marv, she would kill her for sure..._

Then she thought about Marv and what a mess he was in all because of her lie.

_He had needed her forgiveness so badly..._

Then another thought struck her and it was too tempting to resist:

_She had always wanted him... Now she had him wrapped around her finger... And he wouldn't want to upset her, because he didn't know what she might do or how she might feel –for all he knew she might even change her mind and tell Vera he had raped her..._

A slow smile spread across her face as she picked up the coffee and left the kitchen.

She went quietly up the stairs and headed for the bedroom where Marv was trying to rest.

Now Vi had another plan, a better one and it didn't involve scaring him any more - instead, it simply involved the one thing she had wanted since she was sixteen:

_Getting exactly what she wanted, and all she had ever wanted was Marv..._


	7. Chapter 7

**Note from Author:**

*****WARNING: This chapter contains more than one scene of sexual coercion/emotional blackmail/abuse of a vulnerable adult that some readers may find disturbing*****

* * *

Chapter 7

_Violet tapped on the bedroom door._

There was no answer, so she pushed the door open softly and went into the room.

Marv heard her come in and turned his back, rolling onto his side as he kept his gaze fixed on the way the lace curtains swayed in the breeze that slipped in through the open window; he could hear her walking across the carpet, he could feel her eyes fixed on him and now he didn't feel like scratching his arms, he felt like telling her to get the hell out of his bedroom all over again – but he couldn't do it because he remembered what she had said about last time he'd pushed her away.

He still felt guilty; he _still _didn't trust himself...

The way he saw it was this:

_If he could hurt her once and not remember, maybe it could happen again and that was the last thing he wanted._

_He was scared._

_All he wanted was for Vera to some home, but she wasn't home, he was alone with Vi and right now he felt powerless. _

"Marv?"

He said nothing, just kept still on the bed with his back to her, hoping she would think he was asleep and leave him alone again.

_But she didn't._

Vi sat down on the bed.

Marv turned over sharply and looked at her.

"What do you want?"

She saw it in his eyes; he was frightened.

She knew why; _he believed her lie and he thought she had the power to destroy his family – which would destroy him too..._

Then he sat up and blinked away more tears.

"Violet, I really need to be alone right now, I don't feel so good, I just want to go to sleep."

He could have said a lot more, that apologizing to her, thinking about the past and what she said he had done just made him feel bruised all over.

He felt weak, his thinking was going cloudy and he just wanted the pills to kick in so he could sleep and escape from the weight of the sadness that made his bones ache for a short time. He just wanted to sleep until Vera got back, he would feel better when his wife and daughter were back in the house again..._he would feel better when he wasn't alone with Vi any more..._

Marv made a move to lie down again, but she gently took hold of him and held him up.

He felt so weak from the crying he'd done that he just let her hold him, her hands were firmly gripping his arms and as he looked at her with a sad, weary expression he knew she had no intention of letting him rest.

"No," She said softly, "You don't want to go back to sleep."

"_I do!"_ He told her, "I _really_ need to rest."

"No, you don't need to do that." She said gently, and then she let go of him briefly, shifting closer as she put her arm around him.

"That was difficult for you, saying sorry to me. I understand that."

Marv's eyes widened as he stared at her.

"No, I wanted to apologize! I _mean_ it, I _am_ sorry!"

Vi looked into his eyes.

"We're friends now, right?"

Marv blinked as he looked back at her.

The sedatives were already making him sleepy and the confusion in his mind was just adding to the tired, foggy feeling that was clogging up his reasoning.

"_Friends?"_

And she nodded.

"That's right, friends." She said.

And as she said that, Marv realized she had shifted her arm from his shoulder and now her fingers were stroking the back of his hair.

"_Could...could you stop touching me like that?"_ He said nervously, "I...I _don't_ think you should...um...be doing that, it's not right, not under the circumstances, is it?"

Vi was still looking into his eyes.

"You know what we should do, don't you? We should do what friends do when they make up after a quarrel."

Marv laughed nervously.

"Yeah sure - next time I go out with Vera I'll bring you along too and buy you a beer, how does that sound?"

_Then he saw the look in her eyes and his smile faded. _

He felt a rising sense of dread as he guessed what was on her mind – _but he couldn't upset her, he could never upset her again, he had to keep her happy now_...

"Friends," She informed him, "Kiss and make up. _We've made up, so now we should kiss_."

His eyes grew wider.

"_I...I don't want to do that..."_

She slid her arm back around his shoulders.

He was trembling as she pulled him closer; he was tense and as her lips touched his he didn't move, he just froze as she kissed him.

Then she pressed her mouth harder against him, at the same time her other hand slid up his leg sharply and the shock of her touch made him gasp.

As he did that she pushed her tongue in his mouth and as he let her kiss him he felt weak, he felt too pushed into a corner to fight back...

_He was too afraid that she might get mad and tell Vera what had happened all those years ago..._

As she pulled back from the kiss he gave a sigh of relief that she had stopped, but as she reached for his shirt and started to unbutton it he felt too stunned to do anything about it.

"_Vi...what are you doing?"_

"Getting you comfortable."

Then he weakly pushed her hands away.

"I can do that myself."

"No, I want to do it for you; I want to make you feel better."

Marv felt overwhelmed by feelings of powerlessness as tears stung his eyes again.

"I just need you to leave me alone, I need to sleep, _that_ will make me feel better."

She gently took his hands and pulled them away from his shirt as he tried to close it up.

Vi looked into his eyes again and suddenly her voice was edged with a sharpness that came as something of a shock.

"It's only _fair _that you let me have what I want." She stated, "You _raped_ me many years ago. I know we've talked about that but what about _me?_ I _loved_ you, Marv – I still do. It's only fair that you make it up to me, that you show me how nice you can be. I wouldn't expect anything less – _I mean, we're friends now, it's not as if I'm going to tell Vera what you did to me when I was younger; I wouldn't do that to you, not ever – unless you really, really upset me..._"

Marv had feared this happening ever since she had promised he had her forgiveness; he knew she would never let go, not now...

Vi was going to get her own way and he couldn't stop her, because he felt too messed up in his head and he felt dirty too as she unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off, then as she pushed him gently back onto the pillows he felt tearful because he didn't want to cheat on his wife, not ever- _but this house was screwing him up, Vi was screwing him up - he kept thinking the only other way out was to die like his father and he didn't want to do that, he wanted to see Elise grow up..._

"It's okay," Elise whispered as she felt him tremble, "Just be nice to me, you want to be _nice_, don't you?"

As he lay there and Vi pulled down his jeans and took them off him, he just nodded, kept his eyes shut because he didn't want her to know he was tearful and hoped that any minute now, Vera would put the key in the door and Vi would have to leave the room..._he was never, ever going to be alone with her again, never..._

She was sliding his underwear off.

Marv felt violated and the feeling seemed almost familiar, as if she had done this to him before. _But she couldn't have, because she had told him want had happened all those years before, things had been so different then – she had said, he had raped her..._

"That's better." She said as she got onto the bed and ran her hand slowly over his exposed body, "You look great with your clothes off, Marv."

She ran her hand down his arm, pausing to gently stroke the scars he had inflicted on himself over his own mistaken guilt.

"Your poor arms," She said gently, "You have such a nice body...you shouldn't have cut yourself. _Don't _do that again. I'll make sure you don't. You _have_ to do what I say now, okay?"

Marv opened his eyes and looked at her tearfully.

"_I know." _He said as his voice choked up.

As she reached up and brushed away a tear more fell from his eyes.

"Don't cry!" She said, "Just let me take care of you..."

Then her hands slid lower.

Marv gave a gasp as his skin crawled at the thought of her touching him down there... but she just kept on doing it.

"Does that feel nice?" She said as she started to gently caress him, "I hope my sister's been taking care of you properly... what's the matter, Marv? _You're not getting turned on_..."

He took in a shaky breath.

"I get trouble with that sometimes...when I think about you and what I did... I _don't_ think this is going to work, Vi –"

Then he gave a sob.

"_Please stop it!" _

Marv closed his eyes tightly as Vi kept on caressing him, but as much as he tried to imagine his wife down there, he just couldn't do it.

"_Come on honey,"_ Vi said, _"Just relax... I know you want me to do this to you."  
_

He tried to forget this was Vi who was doing this to him; he just wanted it over with.

Marv thought about how it felt to have such rough stimulation, and suddenly every movement was starting to harden him, and he was getting there rapidly now...

He gave a gasp.

She held him firmly.

"That's it, "She said softly, "You can do it, Marv.."

"_Oh no..."_

Marv gave another gasp.

_It was pleasure that lasted seconds and then he felt numb and cold, remembering who had done this and how he felt about her..._

"That was _so_ nice." She whispered.

Vi kissed him, then she went through to the bathroom and for the brief time she was gone Marv wiped his eyes again and reminded himself there was no point in crying in front of her any more; it would alter _nothing..._

Then Vi came back and gently cleaned him up.

He just let her do it because he felt so numb, so hurt inside that he could barely find the strength to move, let alone stop her- and what good would it do to try and stop her anyway? He _had_ to do what she wanted; she had him in the palm of her hand because he knew if he upset her, the forgiveness would be pushed aside and Vi would tell Vera everything...

Vi gently put the covers over him and then kissed him again.

"You can go to sleep now." She told him, "I'll bet you feel better for what we did, right?"

Marv just looked at her, then he turned on his side and kept his gaze fixed on the net curtains as the breeze gently lifted them.

He stayed with his back to the door until Vi left the room, then he listened for her to go back down the stairs.

Once he was sure she had gone, he grabbed the pillow and sobbed into it, wondering if life could ever really be worth living again.

_Everything had lost its meaning now; he had been too weak to stop her, too stupid to push her away and now he hated himself for what he had let her do, he loved Vera, he had never wanted to do this with another woman... _

Now felt as if that dark pit that was dragging him deeper down every day he stayed alive was starting to swallow him up with despair - _so much despair that the thought of the shotgun was starting to feel warm and comforting..._

* * *

When Vera came back from shopping, she put the groceries in the kitchen and as Elise ran up to her Auntie Vi and gave her a hug, Vera frowned.

"Where's Marv?"

Vi was looking at the computer games that Vera had just bought for her daughter.

She handed them back to Elise and smiled.

"These are great! I'd _love_ to play the make up game with you – _and_ the nail salon-"

"_Vi."_

Vera's tone had sharpened.

She turned her head and looked at her sister.

Elise was still taking about her new games but she wasn't listening any more; there was a trace of concern in Vera's eyes now.

"What?" Vi said to her.

"_Where's Marv?"_

She shrugged.

"I told you; he had a head ache, he went for a lie down. I left him to it – I didn't want to bother him when he was feeling like that, it wouldn't have been fair."

Vera gave a sigh.

She abandoned the idea of unpacking the shopping at once.

"I'll go and check on him."

"Okay," Her sister replied with a smile, "I'll put the groceries away for you – oh, and tell Marv I hope he's feeling better."

As Vera turned to leave the kitchen she caught a brief conversation between Vi and her daughter.

"So are you my Dad friends now?" She wondered.

And Violet answered warmly with a smile on her face.

"Sure we are, honey – we're _good _friends now..."

* * *

Vera hurried up the stairs.

She didn't doubt that Violet had finally made peace with Marv – she had never got why they used to clash so much all the time any way, and right now, one look at him would have told her that he wasn't well. _She was starting to worry to the point where she thought maybe the meds had stopped working, maybe he needed to go back and see the doctor..._

She went into the bedroom.

His clothes were in a heap on the floor and the covers were folded back, the pillows were all scrunched up and the water was running in the bathroom.

She went through the bedroom, picking up his clothing on the way and putting it in the laundry basket.

"Marv?" She called out.

"I'm in the shower." He replied, "I won't be long, I just need a few more minutes..."

And as the water ran, Marv scrubbed at his body harder than before, wishing he could take off at least one layer of his skin, the layer that she had touched.

He was sore from washing and washing again and he guessed even if he'd used bleach it wouldn't have lifted off Vi's touch; _he could still feel her hands all over him every time he thought about it..._

"So you made up with Vi?"

As he looked through the steam he saw Vera's image through the frosted glass as she stood by the closed shower door.

"Um...yeah...we talked. She's okay with me now."

As he spoke Marv winced as he rubbed more soap between his legs and it started to sting.

The water was turned right up, it was hot enough to hurt and his skin was turning red.

He stepped under the jet of water and let the heat sting his body, burning away Vi's touch.

"How come you're taking a shower in the middle of the day?" She wondered.

"I was doing some stuff to the barn earlier on and I got dirty. I needed to get myself cleaned up, I _really_ needed to get clean, I was feeling so filthy it made me want to throw up..."

Vera frowned as she listened to what he said. Marv sounded stressed...

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

Marv switched the water off.

_"I'm fine."_

Vera opened the shower door.

A cloud of hot steam came out, fogging the room.

Then she stared at her husband; his body was red from the water, red and sore on his chest, his arms, even his groin...

Marv quickly stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.

His hair was dripping wet so he started to dry it first.

"_Baby..."_ Vera's voice was hushed as she looked at his reddened skin, "_What the hell have you done to yourself?"_

Marv stopped drying his hair and glanced down at his naked body.

"Oh, don't worry about that...I had to really scrub hard to get it off me."

"To get _what_ off you?"

"Dirt." He said quietly, and then he cautiously patted his sore skin dry and then grabbed a bathrobe and put it on.

Vera was still staring at him.

"You've hurt yourself, honey! You've made your skin all red and sore. Why did you do that?"

"Sore?"

Marv looked at her and shrugged." I didn't realize... don't worry about me, pumpkin. I'm okay."

Then as she opened her mouth to speak her words were silenced by the way he stepped closer, put his arms around her and held her to him in a crushing embrace.

"I'm so glad you're home." He said quietly, "I miss you when you're not here. I _don't _want you to do that again because I miss you- when you go out I'm coming with you, okay? _All _the time, I_ need_ to be with you..."

There was a look in his eyes that almost bordered on fear.

"Okay." Vera said quickly, "I know you don't feel too good right now – I won't leave you alone again, I'll make sure me or Vi are in the house –"

"_No!"_

Vera looked at him curiously.

"Not Vi?"

He shook his head.

"I know we've made up our differences but all I want is to be with you. I'd be a lot happier that way, know what I mean?"

Vera frowned; _she didn't know what he meant at all..._

"Okay." She told him," If that makes you feel better I'll stay with you all the time, at least until you feel better."

Marv hugged her again.

"Thanks." He said, and as he pulled away she thought she saw tears in his eyes, but then he quickly walked out of the bathroom to go and change into some clean clothes.

* * *

Marv lingered a long time upstairs before he went back down to join his family because the thought of being in the same room as Vi made him feel uncomfortable.

But eventually he went back downstairs and Vera reminded Vi that she had offered to order a pizza for lunch.

Vi looked at her blankly, then she remembered she had made up the story about the pizza to work out _exactly_ how long she would have alone with Marv...

Then she smiled, pretended it had slipped her mind and got on the phone to order the food.

They ate the food in the garden, out on a seating area near the pond.

While Elise was talking between bites about how she would like some ducks on that pond, Vi's gaze shifted across the wooden table to Marv and Vera.

She saw Vera look deeply into his eyes, then ask him if he was feeling okay now.

Marv had smiled and as Vera's hand went under the table out of sight she saw a look in Marv's eyes that said he was getting very much turned on by that hand on his thigh.

"Okay?" Vera said again.

Marv was still locked on her gaze as he smiled back at her.

"_I think we might have a romantic night together tonight ...I just want to be with you, Vera."_ He whispered.

And Vi looked down at the table, feeling a sting of jealousy.

She started to think about what she ought to do about this – if they were so close all the time she would _never_ get him alone again...

Vi gave a sly glance at the family, saw no one was looking at her and she flipped the pizza slice against her white top and dropped it on the table as she stood up.

"Oh no, I don't believe this!" She exclaimed, "I'm so clumsy today!"

And Vera laughed and so did Elise, but Marv stayed silent.

"I'd better go and get changed." She said quickly, and she went back into the house.

Marv felt a sense of relief now Vi had left the table; it was as if oxygen had just come rushing back into the world and he could breathe properly again now she was gone.

"You're looking better." Vera said quietly as she saw the way her husbands eyes had lost some of the deep sorrow she had seen earlier on.

Marv gave her hand a squeeze.

"I like it out here." He told her, "I was thinking – there used to be stables over there by the field. The guy who used to own this house was a horse breeder."

And Vera looked over at the green field and smiled.

"Can you imagine how great it would be if we could do something like that? Elise would love the horses."

And Marv silently thought back to the childhood she knew nothing about and he smiled.

"I love horses too." He said warmly.

* * *

Vi had gone into the house and run quickly up the stairs, as she walked along the upper hall she peeled off her top, then she threw it into the laundry basket in the spare room, unzipped her bag and pulled out another top and quickly put it on.

Then she hurried back down the stairs, went out into the kitchen and grabbed one of Elise's new games and dropped it to the floor and sharply stamped on it.

Then she put it back in the middle of the pile, where the little girl had left it with the others and went back outside again.

She sat down at the table and Marv tensed up but Vera didn't notice.

"Want some more pizza?" She said to her husband.

Marv's hand shook as he reached for the glass of iced lemonade in front of him.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry now." He said quietly.

"I'll have the last piece." Said Vi, reaching across the table.

Vera smiled.

"Don't drop that one all over yourself!"

"I won't." Vi replied.

Elise got up from the table.

"I want to play one of my new games." She said.

Vi swallowed a mouthful of pizza.

"Good idea! Get the nail salon game out, I want to play that one too!"

Elise smiled.

"Okay!" She said, and then hurried off into the house.

Marv opened the top button on his shirt and cautiously rubbed at his sore skin.

Vera saw him do it and gave a sigh.

"Next time," She said, "_Don't_ have the water too hot!"

Vi looked at both of them

"What's this?" She wondered.

"Marv got dirty in the barn so he went for a shower but he turned the water too hot! You should see how raw his skin is!"

"It's not that bad." Marv said quickly, avoiding Vi's gaze.

His hand shot out to grab the lemonade and he missed, knocking the glass on its side with a clatter sending lemonade spilling and ice cubes scattering all over the table.

"Shit!" He snapped, grabbing the glass and starting to shove the ice cubes back into it, "Sorry about that..."

Vera gently closed her hand over his arm.

"It's okay." She said gently, "Don't stress over it – I'll clean it up..."

"I'm so clumsy today," Marv said, "It must be the pill I took earlier on, I still feel tired."

And Vera stooped clearing up the table and smiled at him.

Vi saw the love in her eyes as she looked at him and the jealousy stung at her again.

"Why don't you go back to bed?" Vera suggested, "I'll clear up the mess and Vi can play with Elise on the computer. Don't worry about anything, just go to bed for the rest of the day."

And she gently touched his cheek.

"I'll have an early night so you won't be on your own up there for long."

"That sounds like a good idea." Marv said to her.

"Go back to bed, do it right now. You need to rest." Vera said again, then she briefly kissed him and Marv went back inside the house.

Violet looked at her sister and noticed her worried expression.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." She told her, "You're right; he just needs more rest. Maybe a couple of days in bed would set him right."

But the worry was still clouding her eyes.

"I don't know." Vera said quietly, "I'm worried about him, Vi. He's just not right and I don't know what's wrong with him. He can get sick so quickly and so badly it's scary. But that's what he's like – he's been like it ever since he went to jail. When he gets depressed I get scared for him, you don't know how bad he can get with it, I sometimes get scared it might kill him some day."

"No," Vi said warmly, "That won't happen, he's got you. And you take great care of him, you know that."

Then Vera picked up the pizza box and put it in the trash and Vi helped her clear the glasses from the table and the two women went back into the house.

* * *

Moments later Elise came running into the kitchen with the computer game in her hand.

"Mom," She said, sounding upset, "It's _broken!_"

Vera took the game from her and opened the case. As she opened it she heard a crack as the broken plastic split and she saw the scratches across the disc inside.

She gave a sigh. Then her eyes narrowed like an angry cat.

"_I don't fu –"_ Then she remembered Elise was standing there. "I don't believe they sold us a game that's been crushed!" She exclaimed, "I'll have to take it back."

Elise looked tearful.

"Right now? _Please_ Mom? "

Vera glanced at the time.

"Well I've got to drive down there, park the car, walk through the retail park, go back in the store, queue up all over again... that's going to take more than an hour!"

"But I want to play nail salon!"

"Okay." Vera said, "Just don't get upset over it – somebody made a mistake, that's all. I'll get it exchanged for you. Are the other games okay?"

Elise looked at her blankly.

"Of course you didn't think to check them. Don't worry honey – I'll check the others to make sure this is the only one that's broken and then we'll get in the car and go back and change the game okay?"

Elise nodded.

"Don't worry about Marv." Vi added as her sister turned to leave the room, "I'll keep an eye on him."

"Thanks." Vera replied, remembering Marv didn't want her to leave him alone – but this was something that couldn't wait, because Elise was upset. _Besides, she figured Marv wouldn't even know she was gone – he had looked shattered back in the garden and she guessed he was fast asleep already..._

* * *

After the car left, Violet went upstairs with a smile on her face_._

She loved Elise and she hadn't wanted to break her new game, but she needed to get her and Vera out of the house because she had seen the closeness Marv shared with her sister and she had decided that had to stop, because she had always wanted to be the one who was with him, but her sister had got there first... and she couldn't have run the risk of Marv suddenly breaking down and telling Vera about anything that had happened, either...

Marv was sleeping deeply when she went into the bedroom.

He was on top of the bed in a bathrobe and she gently untied it and pulled it open, looking at the red marks on his body where he had tried to scrub off the memory of her touch.

As the breeze from the open window kissed his raw skin, Marv stirred and then gave a tired sigh as he opened his eyes.

Then he gave a gasp and pulled the bathrobe tightly about him as he realized Vi was sitting on the bed again and she had been looking at his body while he slept.

"_Get out of here!"_ He said, _"Are you crazy? Vera's home!"_

And she looked back at him as the sunlight bounced off her hair that was several shades darker than Vera's and spoke to him gently.

"No she's not; she had to go back to the retail park because one of Elise's games didn't work. _She won't be back for at least an hour_."

Marv's eyes widened in alarm as he felt a sense of dread sweep over him and he started to break out in a sweat.

The shock of hearing what she said had made him go weak and he felt weaker still as she prised his fingers away from his bathrobe and opened it up.

"Your skin looks _very_ sore." She said, "I'll put some cream on it for you..."

Marv was trembling again and as her hand slipped between his legs he gave a sigh of frustration as his body reacted in the way he didn't want it to...

"I think you _like_ the attention I give you." She said to him,"You should stop fighting me, Marv. "

Then she kept her hand on his groin as she spoke again, this time in a lower voice.

"_You wouldn't believe what Vera said about you behind your back."_

His eyes widened.

"What? Why would she say things behind my back?"

Vi gave a sigh.

"She told me she thinks you're getting sick again. She doesn't want that to happen around Elise. _She said she's thinking about asking your doctor to put you back in the hospital_."

A look of panic was on his face now.

"No...no, I'm okay, I don't _need_ to go back there!"

"I know!" She assured him, "I told her that. I said I was sure you're just fine; I said all you need is a couple of days rest in bed. She listens to me, Marv! I won't let anything happen to you, I'll never let her have you locked up again, I love you too much to let that happen. But all this closeness with Vera has to stop. You think she loves you, I'm not saying she doesn't – but she doesn't _trust _you, honey."

Marv blinked back tears as Vi got up and went into the bathroom.

_Vera didn't trust him? She thought he was going crazy?_

Then Vi came back into the room and sat beside him again.

"It's okay," She said softly, "You don't have to worry about anything. If Vera tries to get you locked up again I'll stop her myself. I've always thought you should have been with me instead of her. Just think, if you and me had got married and had a baby, I could have been Elise's Mommy instead of her Aunt. Maybe one day that might come true, who knows?"

Marv thought about what she had just said and felt a wave of panic wash over him - she wanted Vera out of the way so they could be a family_? It was like he was living out the worst nightmare he could imagine..._

Then he had no more time to think about it as Vi put something cold and wet on his lower body.

He looked down to see her working soapy water through his pubic hair.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"I just need to do something for you," She told him,"You've made your skin so sore I can't put anything on it like this...just keep still, I won't cut you, honey..."

Marv took in a sharp breath as he froze; Vi had a razor in her hand...

"You'll like this," She said as she carefully started to shave him, "And when I've finished I'll put some cream down there to stop you feeling sore. You've burned your skin, Marv! I have to make sure you're okay...Vera wouldn't do this for you, she doesn't care about you like I do..."

And Marv lay back fighting the urge to get turned on simply because she was touching him so intimately; it was difficult to fight between what his mind wanted and what his body wanted to do, but as he thought about it he stayed perfectly still, half afraid she might accidentally cut him.

But after she had finished and gently wiped the last of the soap away, she carefully rubbed some cream into his skin, the gentle stroking movements of her fingertips made him sigh and as he gave in to the feeling that Vi's attention was something he could learn to enjoy, he decided for now he would _not _ fight her, because after what she had told him about Vera he wasn't sure who he could trust but he knew Vi wanted to take care of him - and it was better to welcome her than to resist her and run the risk of making her so mad she might tell Vera everything he didn't want her to know about...

"That's better." She said to him as she finished rubbing in the cream.

_Then he felt her breath on his bare skin and it made him tingle in a way that was far from unpleasant._

She started to kiss him at first, then she went lower and as he stopped fighting the urge to resist her, he gave a quiet moan of pleasure as he felt helpless but no longer cared.

To his relief it was over with quickly; he kept his eyes shut and blocked out the fact that it was Vi who was turning him on. Pleasure shot through him in a short, sharp burst and as the last wave of it washed through his body he felt glad it was over.

Then Marv thought of Vera and felt guilty, but now Violet was gently kissing the sore, shaved skin and it felt so soothing.

"_Sorry."_ She said quietly.

Marv was looking up at the ceiling and he heard her say it but wasn't sure what she meant – then she sucked brutally on the bare skin, making him yell in pain as she sucked harder, biting down so her teeth clamped his flesh as she sucked again, he felt as if blood was being drawn up in a rush and the pain made sparkles of light prick at his vision with the shock of it.

Then she released him, looking down at the deeply bruised, livid love bite on his groin.

"Sorry," She said again, "But I _had_ to do that."

"You gave me a massive _hickey _down there?" He exclaimed, "What the hell did you do that for – Vera's gonna go crazy! And I can't exactly hide it! Sure, I could have told her I shaved because my skin was sore from the hot water - but she's _not _gonna believe that's anything other than a love bite! _I can't hide it!_"

She gently ran her hand over the swollen bruise, then she carefully closed his bathrobe for him and put the covers over him, before putting her hand gently on his cheek and looking into his eyes.

"That's right." She said, "You _can't_ show her. That's why I did it –keep your pants on around her. _No more sex with Vera, okay?_"

He stared at her, wondering how this crazy woman had ever got him into this mess... he couldn't believe how bad things were getting so quickly- but he still felt like there was nothing he could do about it, because he knew what would happen if he upset her...

"Now you can go back to sleep." She told him, and she left the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

* * *

Marv gave a sob as he lay alone in bed, wondering if she was telling the truth:

_Did Vera want to get him locked up again?_

Would she _really _do that?

He didn't want to think it was true, but he felt nothing but confusion.

He didn't know what to believe and it hurt as much as the throbbing pain from that bite to think that he couldn't make love to his wife because of what she had just done to him...

Marv had never felt so alone.

Then as he lay there it occurred to hit him that he wasn't alone; later on, when everyone was asleep, he would go to the barn again:

_He needed to tell his father about Vi, because something had to be done about her..._


	8. Chapter 8

**Note from Author:**

*****WARNING: This chapter has a scene of sexual coercion/emotional blackmail/abuse of a vulnerable adult that some readers may find disturbing*****

* * *

Chapter 8

The moon was full and bone-white set in a starless sky as Marv closed the barn door, locked it on the inside and then lit an old oil lamp.

He carried it over the place where he'd left the boxes and set it down carefully on the floor, then he took the picture from the pocket of his Daddy's coat and pinned it back on the wall.

In the glowing light of the lamp, his father's face seemed bathed in kindness and compassion as he smiled back at him from the old family photo.

Marv slipped on the leather coat and as he did that he felt as if his father's arms were around him once more, he felt like nothing could hurt him because he wasn't alone now...

Then he reached behind the boxes and lifted out the shotgun and it felt good to hold it in his hands once more...

Marv sat down on the box he used as a seat, cradling the gun as he looked at his father's picture.

Tears glazed his eyes as he gave a quiet sob.

"It's getting worse, Daddy! It's Vera's sister, she's an evil bitch! I don't remember raping her. She said she forgave me for it but now she's..._making me do stuff with her_, she's even _bitten_ me, she bit me like a _vampire_ so I can't take my clothes off in front of Vera!"

His voice was still tearful as he blinked to clear his vision.

"She told me she did it so I can't make love to my wife! She said Vera wants to get me locked up again but I think she's lying - Vera _loves_ me!"

Then he paused, looking at his father's image.

"What do you think I should do about this, Daddy? Please, help me out – I don't want to die, I want to live and see my daughter grow up, I want to be with Vera – but she's making it impossible! Vi told me if I upset her she'll tell Vera everything. _What do I do?_ What do I do about this mess? Help me out..."

Then he looked at his father's image a while longer, thinking about him, feeling the weight and warmth of his coat around him just like he felt the weight of the shotgun in his hands that was starting to feel like it was a part of him now...

Then he stood up.

"I think I should go back to the house." He said quietly, "I need to see how this feels before I make a decision - I mean, it's a _big _decision, isn't it? You must have thought long and hard before you decided you couldn't go without taking Momma and Sylvie with you. That must have a tough choice; I'll bet you thought about it for days, weeks, months..."

And then Marv nodded as he felt like everything was sliding into place:

_Yes, he knew what to do now..._

"I wont be long, Daddy." He said_, "And I'll be quiet, too... they'll never know..."_

As Marv left the barn he crossed the pathway lit by moonlight and glanced back, half expecting to see the night lit up the color of fire as the stables burned brightly against the blackness of the sky; but the stables were long gone, just like his father...

* * *

He pushed open the kitchen door and quietly made his way into the house.

This wasn't what his father had done on the night of the shootings: He had been up half the night, pacing the floor in the front room while he made his choices...

Marv remembered_:_

_Before the stables had burned, he had heard someone walking up and down somewhere down below his bedroom, in the front room, he'd guessed. He hadn't known it was his father, he had thought it was some kind of a bad dream- until he had seen the stable burning and then his father had been in the upper hallway with the gun in his hands and a look in his eyes that made him feel like the man he was looking at just wasn't Daddy any more; Daddy had gone, he had known that when he looked into his eyes and seen the vacant stare that passed straight through him.._

Marv was in the downstairs hallway now.

He paused as he reached the mirror that hung there, getting an odd sense of déjàvu as he looked into the mirror and saw his Daddy looking back at him in his long dark coat with his shotgun in his hands...

_Then he blinked and realized he was seeing into his own eyes; there was no empty stare in his eyes at all, more like a look of surprise as he found himself standing here, like this, in Daddy's coat with Daddy's shot gun in his hands..._

Marv turned away from the mirror and walked slowly and quietly to the bottom of the stairs, he slowly looked up, his vision moving up each step, one at a time.

_What had it felt like for his father, on that last time he came up these stairs?_

_It must have felt like the longest climb, like climbing a steep mountain that he didn't want to climb, because he knew what he would have to do when he finally reached the top..._

Marv's body felt like lead as he began to climb the stairs.

He thought about Vera fast asleep in bed. Then he thought about his daughter, sleeping in her pink bed room, the room where Sylvie once slept too...

Thoughts of his big sister brought tears to his eyes, then he thought about Momma and by the time he had reached the upper hallway his grip on the gun was weak and he blinked as tears rolled down his face.

_What could he do if Vera or Elise woke up and saw him standing here with the shotgun?_

_He thought about it and the answer came to him; he would say he went outside because he heard a noise, he found the gun in the bushes out by the gates...someone must have dumped it there..._

_Any story would be better than the truth._

_But he didn't want it to come to that because the gun felt like a part of him now and didn't want to let it go..._

He walked quietly up the hall, gently pushing open the door of the guest bedroom.

The room was in darkness and all he could hear was Violet's slow breathing but the moonlight shone brightly through the window, in this light as she lay there on her back with her eyes closed it bothered him how much she reminded him of Vera...

He kept his gaze fixed on her, knowing this was a crazy place to be; the line had been crossed now and _if _she woke up...

_If she woke up, he had a tight grip on that gun and his finger was close enough to the trigger to do what he had to do, the thing that he didn't want to do - if she woke up, he would have no choices left..._

Marv's grip was steady as he held onto the weapon.

He hooked the barrel of the gun beneath the sheet and slowly slid it off her body.

And Violet knew nothing; she slept on, laying there in a short t shirt that barely covered her panties.

Marv looked away from her body, focussing on her sleeping face as he felt nothing but disgust for what she had done to him...

There was a thought flickering somewhere at the back of his mind_; it was a doubt that scared the hell out of him because if he was right he knew he didn't want to think about the kind of rage he might let out or what that rage might make him do..._

_But he had a vague feeling; a strange thought had come to him as he was reminded of the night of the party as he watched her sleeping in the dark: _

_What if she had lied about everything?_

_What if he had never raped her?_

_What if he was innocent?_

_He knew she was capable of anything, she had proved that by the way she'd hurt him when she bit him..._

_Had she lied about the rape?_

_Had he cut his arms to pieces, slashed his wrists, stayed in a deep dark grip of depression over regretting something that had never happened in the first place?_

Marv raised the gun level with her face and looked down the barrel; _he had a straight aim..._

His finger was near that trigger, but his hand was shaking and he got gripped by the sudden fear that if he shook too much he might knock the trigger and he knew what would happen next:

_The gun would go off._

_Vera and Elise would wake up, they would come in and see him with Vi's blood up the walls and over his face and over his Daddy's coat._

_Vi would be dead on that bed with half her head blown away._

_And Elise would start screaming and Vera would grab her and run..._

_She'd call the cops._

_She wouldn't understand even if he tried to explain._

_He would have go into the barn and kill himself too, die just like his father with a shot gun in his mouth because anything, even death would be better than life in prison with no chance of parole..._

_Going back to jail would kill him a second time; suicide would be a quicker way out. _

_It wouldn't hurt, it would be quick, painless and instant, he could wipe everything out and then he wouldn't hurt any more..._

Marv's hand was shaking and he couldn't control that and he knew it.

He cautiously drew his finger away from the trigger and carefully lowered the gun to his side as he took in a shaken breath:

_She wasn't worth it, she wasn't worth losing everything, and he would lose everything if he shot her and he knew that..._

_But he still had the choice to kill her if he wanted to; as long as he had his Daddy's gun he knew he could change his mind if there was no other way..._

Marv stepped back away from her bed.

He slowly and cautiously backed out of her bedroom and closed the door quietly.

Then he heard a door creaking open.

He had expected his heart to pound in fear, for everything to fall apart...

But instead a strange sense of calm swept over him as he hid the gun beneath his long coat and carried on walking down the staircase.

"Marv?"

He was at the bottom of the stairs now with the loaded gun concealed and as he looked up at Vera he felt no sense of danger at all.

"What are you doing?" She said, "I woke up and you wasn't there – and why have you got your coat on?"

"I heard the barn door banging." He replied,"I'm just going to close it properly –you never know who could be about at..."

He glanced at the face of the clock on the wall that was lit silver by moonlight.

"...at one in the morning."

Vera gave a sigh.

"Marv," She said, keeping her voice low so she didn't wake Elise or Vi, "Why can't it wait?"

"Someone could break in."

"Who's going to break into a barn at one in the morning?" She exclaimed.

Marv gave a shrug and smiled as he guessed she'd just missed the irony of her remark – _had she forgotten what they used to get up to ten years ago?_

"_Who's_ going to break in?" He repeated in surprise, _"Burglars, pumpkin?"_

Vera gave a weary sigh and shook her head.

"But its _empty,_ Marv!"

Marv didn't reply, he just kept on walking until he reached the door, then he left the house, went back to the barn and slipped back inside.

The oil lamp was still burning brightly and he quickly took off the coat and hid the gun.

Then he grabbed the picture off the wall.

"Sorry Daddy." He said in a low voice, "I wanted to spend more time with you – but Vera almost caught me. I have to go back to the house now."

Then he folded the picture, put it in the pocket of the coat and put out the lamp.

He walked out of the barn and spent several minutes securing the chain, making sure the place was locked up safely, then he went back to the house, still feeling strangely calm about the fact that he had almost been caught with the shot gun.

Vera was still up, she was downstairs now and as he came in through the door she walked over to him looking worried.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" She wondered.

Marv smiled again.

"No, I'm just fine, Vera." He promised her, then he put his arm around her.

"But I _am_ tired. Let's go back to bed."

* * *

When Vera woke up the next morning she glanced at the time; it was gone six in the morning, the sun was rising and the house was silent.

She lay there for a moment just thinking about how odd it was that her husband had got up in the middle of the night to make a fuss about the barn door:

_Why had he got dressed and even put his coat on to go and do it?_

Vera turned on her side and ran her hand over Marv's dark hair.

She studied his face and noticed shadows faintly visible under his eyes and she wondered just how sick he was feeling; it was clear he wasn't sleeping at night, he was a nervous wreck most of the time, acting strangely late at night and she could barely get close to him because he just didn't want her to touch him all of a sudden.

Last night she had wrapped her arms around him and kissed him and he had kissed her back with passion – but when her hand had slipped between his legs and she had suggested taking his underwear off, he had taken hold of her hand and put it back above his hip and told her again that he was very tired.

As she looked at him she felt afraid for him, then she blinked away tears as she thought back to how he had been just a short time ago before they had come to this house – she could remember how happy he was to see her again, how passionately he had taken her in his arms, making love to her up against the wall because needed her so much...

_Where had that man gone?_

She gently ran her hand over his chest, then slowly moved it down his body.

"_I love you." _She whispered as she kissed his cheek_, "Please be okay, baby... I'm so scared for you..."_

Marv vaguely heard her voice; he didn't catch what she said because he felt so drained and tired, but as the felt her hand wandering slowly down his body he smiled.

"_Oh yeah, lower..."_ He murmured, feeling an instant flood of love and desire as Vera caressed him.

His mind felt lazy, partly from his medication the day before and partly because of everything that had happened:

_Vi had made him feel terrible, but he was still glad he hadn't shot her._

_He could have shot her, he could still do it of he wanted to..._

_But last night he had stayed in control, he had taken that same walk up the stairs his father had taken, but he had come back down again and no one was in a body bag..._

Vera's hand slid over his underwear, he gave a gasp of pain as she brushed against the bruise on his groin and he snapped his eyes open, suddenly feeling terrified:

_There was no way she could see the love bite..._

"What's the matter?"

Vera's eyes were full of concern as she cautiously tried to touch him again.

He pushed her hand away and sat up.

"_Don't do that!"_ He said sharply.

Vera still looked worried as she sat up in bed too.

"I can't touch you down there? Something hurts, what the hell have you done?"

Now her mind was working overtime and reaching the wrong conclusions.

"Have you been doing too much in that barn?" She demanded, "What the hell did you do, lift something that was too heavy? Marv, you need to see a doctor. It could be serious, baby! You could have a hernia!"

He looked at her nervously as he shifted further across the bed, away from her, away from any chance that she might try and take his underwear down to check him over.

"No I'm fine. I just fell on some timber in there; I bruised my crotch if you must know! It's okay, just leave me alone."

Vera's eyes reflected hurt as she looked back at him.

"But you should let me take a look, Marv. I'm worried about you."

He was breaking out into a sweat again as he got up and grabbed some clean clothes.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Where are you going?" She wondered as she watched him gathering his clothing together.

"In the shower." He told her in a snappy voice, "I'm having a shower and I'm getting dressed, is that okay with you?"

Vera stared at him, wondering why he was being so distant..._ He_ _didn't even want to get changed in front of her all of a sudden?_

He went into the bathroom and she was about to offer to join him because she wanted to take a look at that bruise - but she didn't get the chance.

As soon as he went into the bathroom, he shut the door firmly, then she heard the bolt slide across as he locked the door behind him.

As the water started to run Vera just sat on the bed, feeling utterly confused:

_She just didn't get it; they'd been so happy, so close – everything had been working out and now he was suddenly pushing her as far away as he could, as if he simply couldn't stand to be around her any more..._

* * *

Marv took his time in the shower, but this time he didn't scrub at his sore skin or turn the water up too hot.

He stayed in there until the water made him feel warm and woke him up properly; he stayed there until he decided that when he opened that door, he would be ready to apologize to Vera, he would take her in his arms and kiss her and then he would make love to her on the bed, while he told her how much he loved her over and over...

_He didn't have to take his clothes off to do that._

_And he would be doing what Violet didn't want him to do, he would be making love with his wife – the thought of defying her like that made him feel a little stronger._

_But all the same, as he got dressed the bruise on his groin throbbed and ached as he zipped his jeans and the pain reminded him of Vi's determination._

_He had decided he wouldn't fight her, he couldn't risk it...he had too much to lose if he did that because he knew what she would do..._

_No, he wasn't going to fight her; instead, he would try and be nice, to make her happy, then maybe she would stop bullying him and making him feel so bad he could barely function..._

Marv finally unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out into the bedroom.

He glanced at the time: _It was seven thirty now?_

Marv went down stairs and found Elise and Vera in the kitchen finishing breakfast.

"We're going out." Vera stated, "It's a beautiful day I thought I'd take Elise for a drive up to the lake, then after that take her shopping.

"I'd sure like to come with you." He said warmly.

But hurt still reflected in Vera's eyes as she recalled his rejection.

"I think you should stay here and get some more rest, Marv. You hurt yourself in the barn, you're not sleeping right – you need to take it easy."

His eyes widened in fear as he thought about being alone with Violet again...

"N...no. I... I want to come with you."

Elise looked up at her father.

"Dad," She said, "You need to rest. So have some rest! We love you; we want you to feel better."

And as Vera looked at him he finally saw softness in her eyes that felt like he was instantly forgiven for the way he'd snapped at her before.

"Just do it for us, honey?"

Marv nodded.

"Okay." He said quietly, "I'll do it for you..."

* * *

Marv stayed in the kitchen and washed the dishes after breakfast, the car had already gone and all he could hear as he did the washing up was the ticking of the kitchen clock as he began to fell more and more tense; Vi would be up soon...

Then as he finished the dishes he heard the kitchen door open.

He thought about going outside in the garden, but what difference would it make? There were no neighbors nearby, no one else around at all... it didn't matter where he went; he would _still _be alone with her for the whole morning and that thought terrified him, but he still felt there was little he could do about it.

_She was walking up behind him._

Marv turned sharply, catching his breath and knocking over a plate that fell back into the sink with a clatter.

"Vi." He said quietly, "How are you?"

And he looked at her and managed a smile, even though he felt terrified; _perhaps she wouldn't hurt him if he was nice to her..._

"Has Vera seen your love bite?" She wondered.

Marv shook his head.

"No, no way. I didn't let her near me."

And Vi smiled.

She put her arms around his waist and gave him a gentle sqeeze, ignoring the way he tensed up even more as she trapped him in her embrace.

"I'm very pleased about that." She told him softly.

Then her hand slid down to his groin and she pressed firmly over the fabric.

He breathed in sharply and she caught the brief look of pain on his face.

"It still hurts?"

Marv nodded.

"I should take a look at it for you; make sure its healing okay."

Marv drew in a shaky breath and wanted to push her away, but to anger her could mean her telling Vera everything, so he tried to be stronger, to draw up some courage to carry out his plan: _Surely she would be nicer to him if he was nice to her?_

"Okay." He said nervously, "I'll go upstairs and take my pants off for you."

And he forced a smile as he thought of the rest of his plan, he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but he wanted some evidence of everything she was doing to him...

"How about you stay down here and get us both some lemonade with lots of ice."

Vi smiled.

"I certainly will do that, Marv!"

And she stroked his cheek

"You can see it now, can't you, I _know _you're seeing this is a good thing that we're doing together..."

And she kissed him and he felt as if her lips may as well have been made of ice.

Then Marv left the room while Vi set about pouring the drinks with a smile on her face.

* * *

Marv hurried into the bedroom and grabbed his cell phone.

His hands shook as he ran through the options and found _Video._

He glanced back, heard no sound on the stairs yet and quickly switched it to _record._

_He turned the camera around and looked into the lens with tearful eyes._

"_I want her to stop," He whispered tearfully, "But she's hurting me and she won't leave me alone. She says if I tell Vera she'll say I raped her years ago!"_

_He stifled a sob._

"_I didn't! I don't think I did rape her, I don't remember but I don't think I did it! I've found out she tells lies and she likes to hurt me...she knows I'm sick, too. But I'm scared, I'm so scared... she makes me want to kill myself..."_

Then he heard her coming up the stairs and quickly hid the camera on the book case on a shelf that gave a perfect view of the bed.

Then Marv sat down with his clothes still on and waited for her to come into the room.

Vi came in and set the drinks next to the bed.

"I said take your pants off, are you such a moron that you can't follow a simple instruction?"

Marv blinked away tears.

"Vi," He said, "I want to know why you make me do things. I want to know why you keep threatening to tell my wife about what you said happened years ago – because you're blackmailing me and it's killing me. I'm sick, I'm scared and I'm trying to be nice because I'm afraid of you!"

She saw tears in his eyes and sat down beside him, gently gripping his face in her hand.

"Marv," She said, oblivious now to the tears that ran down his face, "I don't _care_ how you feel. This is about what _I _want. And if I don't get it, I'll tell my sister you raped me and she will believe me. So yes, be nice – _really nice_..."

Her grip on his face was starting to hurt.

"Nice." She repeated, and then she let go of his face.

"Take your pants off, honey."

Marv blinked away more tears.

"Just give me a minute, okay?" He said quietly.

Vi gave an impatient sigh and then anger flashed in her eyes.

"Take your pants off!"

He gave another sob.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't want to –"

His words were cut off by the sharp sting she dealt him with a slap to his face.

He cried even more and Vi pushed him down on the bed and started to unbuckle his belt, then she unzipped his jeans and pulled them down roughly along with his underwear.

Marv was still tearful.

"I'm not a rapist!" He sobbed, "You're forcing me..."

Vi slid her hand down to the painful bruise and pressed on it, making him yell out with pain.

"And who would listen to that?" She told him, "The cops? Are you going to go to the cops, a big, tough guy like you, ex con, ex bad ass burglar and say there's a woman who won't leave you alone? Are you going to tell them you're scared of me, that you don't want me to make you feel good? Then they'd come over to the house and meet me and I'd tell them all about the long years you spent in the nuthouse, Marv! _How would that make you look? No one would believe anything you said. Don't make a fool of yourself..._"

She dropped the harsh tone and stroked his face.

"Just be nice, it's easier that way..."

Then she slid down his body, gently kissed over the painful bruise. And then she stopped and looked up at him

"I think this will be gone in around a week." She told him,"But don't worry I'll do it all over again, I'll shave you again and give you _another_ big bite so you can't show Vera...I wont have to do this to you forever, just until I'm sure you know how to behave yourself, Marv."

He was sobbing again but she took no notice of that fact as she went lower still and her mouth was on him, he sobbed louder but crying made no difference; his body responded even though his mind did not want him to.

He grabbed the pillow and held it over his face, thinking only of the feeling and not the woman who was doing it to him.

Then he gasped sharp and fast and pushed the pillow aside as he looked up at her, hating her touch on his body.

"_Please stop it, I love Vera, I don't want to –"_

She raised her face, looked into his eyes and for a moment he thought she was going to gently stroke his face again, but instead she slapped it and as he cried harder, she went back down on him, toying with his body, playing with him all over again until he gave another sharp gasp and this time couldn't hold back.

He was glad it was over because she let go of him, but then he sobbed some more.

She brushed away his tears and kissed him, then looked deeply into his eyes.

"I know," She said softly, "You're trying to be nice to me but you're scared; of _course _you are! Just remember, you can't trust my sister. She's the one who wants to put you back in the hospital. I won't do that to you, I want to take care of you! When she realizes you don't want her any more, she can go – and then you and me can be together. I'll be so kind to you, honey! I won't have to discipline you like this any more. And you won't have to worry about anything, you can forget her. I'll take you to the doctor and get you some stronger pills, something to really chill you out. Then you'll be okay, you'll worry about nothing and I can be with you all the time, we can get _married,_ too!"

Then she kissed him again and got off the bed.

"Make sure you wash your face before you come downstairs." She told him, "And put your underwear back on because Vera can't see you without it any more, don't forget that... _have you got that, Marv?_"

Her tone had become sharp.

He slowly met her gaze and nodded.

"Good boy." She said softly, and then she left him alone once more.

* * *

Marv sat there semi naked feeling helpless and ashamed as he gave another sob.

He looked down at his bruised body; his cheek still stung for her slaps. _He hadn't expected her to start hitting him..._

Then he got up and grabbed the camera phone and switched it off.

He saved the film and wondered what he could do with it...

_Show it to Vera?_

_He didn't know how she would react, no matter how much he didn't want Vi to touch him, he hadn't stopped her because he had been too weak, crying and acting like a pathetic wreck of a man who couldn't fight back.._

_He didn't want her to see him like that..._

_But maybe, just maybe, this evidence could stop Vi..._

_He decided to hold on to it for now; he had other choices – he knew where Daddy's shot gun was..._

Marv took in a deep breath and suddenly felt a lot calmer as he recalled what he had done the night before:

_He had been in her bedroom while she slept with a loaded gun in his hands and Violet hadn't known a damned thing about it... he wanted to hold on to that thought..._

Then he went back into the bathroom, because he needed to wash away her touch again...

* * *

Vera and her daughter had spent a peaceful couple of hours up at the lake and now she was driving back towards town.

"Where would you like to go?" She asked her daughter.

"I want us to go to the sewing shop." Elise told her, "You know when we went into town the first time, when we took a look around and there was the shop with all the pretty fabric?"

Vera smiled.

"I'm guessing I'll be spending a few hours struggling to get it right and make you a dress?" She wondered.

Elise smiled.

"I _really_ want a summer dress like the one Daddy found me in the attic – but I want you to make it out of the yellow cotton we saw with the flower print on it."

They had just entered the town and Vera was looking for a place to park.

"I remember that fabric." She said, "Okay, we'll go and have a look at it. But I don't know how much it is. If it's too expensive the answer is _no,_ okay?"

"Okay." Elise replied.

Vera parked the car and they both got out and headed down the street towards the sewing shop.

* * *

The fabric turned out to be priced a little higher than Vera had hoped, but it wasn't too expensive.

While the woman behind the counter took the money for it she smiled at Vera and then glanced at her daughter.

"I haven't seen you in here before," She said to Vera, "Do you do much dress making? If it's your first time I've got some patterns."

"No, I've just about managed it before," Vera said with a smile, "We're new in town. We just moved into the big old place over by the bridge."

And the woman's smile faded, her face took on a shade much like the streaks of grey that ran through her brown hair.

"You've moved into the Montgomery place?"

"That's right, "Vera said, "Used to be owned by a guy who bred horses?"

The woman was still looking stunned as she nodded her head.

"I know he did. He was a nice man, had a lovely family..."

She lowered her voice, glancing at Elise; the little girl was over at the far end of the shop, toying with some spools of lace.

"It was so sad, the way he died... it was terrible for all of them..."

Vera stared back at her, unsure of what she was trying to convey.

"What was?" She wondered.

"You know," She said, "What happened. What he did. He was a nice man, loved his family. He lived for them. But when he got in deep with the debts and he knew he was going to lose the house and the business...it just pushed him over the edge. _That's why he did it, that's why he shot them and then shot himself_."

Vera felt her skin prickle as a chill passed through her body.

"_Shot who?"_ She whispered, not wanting Elise to hear a word of this.

"His wife and little girl." The woman said sadly, "Then he went into the barn and killed himself. It was bad enough they all died like that but that poor little boy... I heard about it, how he hid from his dad under his sister's bed. He was there for two days before they found him. He was so scared he couldn't speak. I saw the news reports all about it, I saw a picture of him. I'll never forget the look in that child's eyes. It must have ruined the whole of his life, witnessing something like that..."

Vera's eyes grew wider.

"_The little boy?"_

"Freddie's son." The woman said, "Marv Montgomery... He was around five years old, the poor little thing. He didn't move back to the house when Pauline's mother took it over- it would have been too much for him, going back there he'd be grown up by now, grown up a long time ago - ... he was adopted..."

She frowned as she thought for a moment, then she snapped her fingers.

"Oh that's it, there used to be a couple lived around here...they were friends of the family..._Mr and Mrs Merchants. I didn't know him very well but Molly was a lovely lady, Molly Merchants..._"

Then the woman blinked and stared after her customer, who had turned abruptly from the counter and called out her little girl.

"What about your fabric?" She said to her.

Vera felt as if her head was spinning; she had heard too much for any of this to be coincidence...

"_Oh right, fabric..."_ She repeated in a hushed voice, snatching up the bag.

Then she hurried from the shop and Elise ran after her, catching up as they went outside.

She grabbed her Mom's arm and asked her what was wrong.

Vera felt lost for words as she breathed in fresh air and willed her head to stop spinning.

"We need to get home right now," She said quickly, _"I need to talk to your Daddy..."_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Marv had finally switched off the water and got out of the shower, he had carefully dried his skin which didn't feel quite so sore now and then got dressed, then spent more than half an hour with his phone in his hand as he sat on his bed just looking at the screen and wondering what to do about the evidence he had captured.

At first, the answer was simple:

_Give it to Vera._

_But what if Vera didn't understand? _

_What if she thought he'd wanted this, that maybe him and Vi were playing a kinky game?_

_He knew for sure that was what Vi would say..._

He gave a heavy sigh and glanced up at the closed bedroom door, deciding he stood a better chance of shutting Vi out of his life at least some of the time if he put a lock on the bedroom door...he could always tell Vera he wanted some privacy with her, because of the way Elise came in without knocking on some mornings...

Then he thought some more and wondered if doing that would make everything worse: _Violet might hear about the lock. She wouldn't like it and he knew what would happen if he upset her..._

He thought about the power Vera's sister had over him and anger started to build up inside him, but it was quickly drowned out by the pain he felt at the way she was treating him, the way she was making him feel.

"_I wish I could go to the cops."_ He said quietly as he blinked away tears that stung his eyes, but as soon as he pictured doing that he shook his head:

There was _no way_ he was going to go to the cops and say, _"My sister in law is molesting me, she's raping me...I think she did it years ago but she said I raped her but I was drunk and I don't think I did it, she knows I've been sick and she's making me worse and I'm scared..."_

No, he couldn't do it:

_He could just picture the looks on the cop's faces as he made the allegation. _

_They'd look at him, see a big, strong guy who could easily fight off a girl and then they'd ask him why he'd been sick._

_Once they knew his history, they'd be doubtful, then they'd meet Vi, who would say something mean because she would be angry and she would probably say they'd been having an affair, she'd say it so Vera heard her say it too, just to try and break them up._

_Then Vera would go and take Elise with her and he would be stuck with Violet._

_The cops would go away too, they would laugh at him behind his back because he was a guy and guys were supposed to be tough, they were suppose to feel...what? Flattered that an attractive young woman couldn't stop making advances?_

_It was a macho thing; guys just didn't admit to this kind of stuff, not in his world..._

_When most people heard the words 'rape' or 'abuse' they typically assumed the victim would be a woman, the offender to be a man –not the other way around...and what did that say about him? What kind of spineless wimp would let a woman abuse him like that?_

_He never wanted Vera or his daughter to find out; it was just too terrible..._

Marv was still tearful.

He put his phone in his pocket, deciding he wouldn't do anything with the evidence until he was sure of what the consequences might be.

Marv had spent too long locked away, separated from Vera and his daughter to run the risk of anything going badly wrong and losing them both now.

He knew for sure he would rather go through this shit and cry over it forever than run the risk of losing the two people he loved most in this world...

As he thought more about how powerless he felt around Vi an odd thought struck him:

_If he was capable of raping and beating her, how come there was no way he could hit back now? _

_He knew the time he had spent locked away had changed him a lot, but he had never raised a hand to a woman and he never wanted to...even now, even after what she had done to him, he still couldn't bring himself to do it and suddenly he felt sure of the answer:_

_Because he had never been capable of anything like that in the first place..._

He wanted to fight back.

But he didn't know how to do it without everything coming out in the open and he wasn't the same man he used to be; his time in jail, the depression, the beating that had almost killed him...it had all chipped away at his strength and Vi knew that, as soon as she saw him she'd known and realized he was an easy target...

Then he heard the sound of Vi's car starting up and he got up and looked out the window:

_She was going out?_

He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched her drove off, then he went back downstairs once more, finally able to relax because that woman was out of his house, at least for a little while...

* * *

Marv sat down in the kitchen, looking thoughtfully through the trees because he knew that pathway between those trees led to the barn.

He didn't know how long Vera would be, but he needed to talk to his Daddy again – and he needed to do it soon, because he felt so trapped in this mess he could see no way out of it...

Then he heard a car pull up and then someone got out and the door slammed hard.

Marv looked out the window and breathed a sigh of relief: It was Vera...

As he watched her hurry up the path with Elise, he looked at her face, saw the way the breeze blew her honey coloured hair off her shoulders and he felt a rush of love for her along with a feeling of safety.

He felt like crying but he held it back, feeling like a nervous wreck because he wasn't sure how she would react but he knew he loved her, he knew she would never hurt him and all of a sudden, he felt it was the right thing to do, to tell her everything, to show her what Vi had done to him_...he wanted to show her the video_.

Then the front door closed and as Marv walked out into the hallway Vera stared at him...

He looked back at her and wondered what was wrong; her face was pale and she was looking at him like she'd just had some kind of shock.

For a minute his heart missed a beat as he was hit by the awful thought that maybe Vi had met them on her way out and said something... but then Vera spoke up.

"Marv, I need to talk to you about something, honey."

She didn't sound mad at all, he couldn't tell _what _she sounded like, all he knew was this was urgent.

"Sure."

"Daddy, "Elise said, "Mommy's going to make me a dress!"

"Not now." Vera said to her daughter, "I need to talk to Daddy about some other stuff. Could you go and play in your room, please?"

Elise gave a sigh.

Vera handed her the bag of fabric.

"Be _careful _what you do with it." She told her.

Elise's face lit up with a smile.

"I'll be careful!" She exclaimed excitedly, now with plans to get out her own sewing kit and surprise her Mom, then she ran upstairs with the fabric clutched tightly in her hand.

Marv thought about the evidence on his cell phone.

"I need to talk to you too." He said quietly.

But Vera barely heard him.

"This can't wait." She told him, and one look at her told him all he needed to know: _this was urgent..._

"What's the matter, pumpkin?" Marv asked her.

Vera closed her eyes for a moment and gave a heavy sigh. Then she looked back at Marv with tearful eyes as she thought about everything she had learned.

"Let's just go through to the front room and talk."

She was looking really worried now, and that was worrying Marv...

"Why?"

"Just come and sit down." Vera said, grabbing his hand and leading him through to the front room.

They sat together on the sofa and for a moment Vera said nothing.

Then she glanced at the door and checked it was still tightly shut; she did not want Elise hearing about any of this...

She sighed again and ran her fingers through her long hair, flipping it off her face as she looked at her husband

"_I know."_ She said quietly," I _know _you didn't buy this place. I know you inherited it because I spoke to an old woman in town today. She told me all about this place...all about the Montgomery family and what happened to them. I _know _you were adopted by Molly Merchants."

Marv stared at her, feeling too shocked to speak.

Vera stifled a sob and drew in a sharp breath as she tried to hold her emotions together.

"You loved me that much that you'd come back to this place after what happened here, just to give us a home? _You'd risk losing your mind again just to be with me?"_

And Marv slowly nodded.

He felt choked up and he cleared his throat before he tried to explain.

"I came from a happy family, Vera. My Daddy was a good man; he loved us all so much. But he got sick just like me and back then he didn't know what it was. People didn't talk about mental illness like they do now. A guy back in those days wouldn't have wanted to admit he was depressed, especially not a guy like my father! He kept it all inside and he kept it there too long_. It killed him in the end and it killed my Momma and my sister too_."

Vera sat there and looked at Marv, suddenly seeing another side to the horrific story she had heard in town: _This wasn't just a murder house; it had once been a family home. And Marv's Dad had been sick, he wasn't some crazy serial killer; he was a victim as much as his wife and daughter on the night he shot them..._

Then Vera looked at Marv and fear reflected in her eyes.

"I'm scared you might go crazy too if we stay here much longer. I don't care where we live, Marv! I don't care as long as we're together!"

"I do find it hard being here." Marv admitted, "But after Dad killed my Mom and my sister, my grandma took the place over. She lived here for many years and I loved her very much too. And living here is getting easier, I feel closer to the people I lost."

Vera heard the pain in his voice as he spoke and that same pain reflected in his eyes and as she thought about what he had been through as a child, hiding under his sister's bed while his father stalked the house with a loaded gun, it made her heart feel like it could break.

She gently took hold of his hand

"But Marv," She said carefully, "You must think about what he did sometimes- he killed his wife and daughter? _He did an evil thing_-"

"_No!_" Marv said sharply, letting go of her hand, "_Think _about what you just said, Vera! He was depressed, just like I was! He killed himself. I tried that too when I was in jail, I would have died too if they hadn't found me in time! Does that make _me_ evil?"

Vera saw the hurt in his eyes and wished she could take that back.

"Oh no, I don't mean it like that! What happened with you was _different!_"

"_No it wasn't."_ Marv said, "We both had the same illness. The difference was, my Daddy didn't get help. I remember the night he killed my family, I saw his face, I looked right into his eyes..."

And as Marv's own eyes clouded with sorrow at the memory his voice dropped barely above a whisper.

"I saw his face, I looked into his eyes and he wasn't my Daddy any more. The man I knew was gone, Vera. I remember my father before that night and all remember is how much love there was in my family. The depression took that away from him, it changed him_. It changed him and then it killed him_."

Vera's heart ached for everything Marv had witnessed as a child.

"You never told me." She said to him, "All these years I've known you and you never said a word about it. How can you carry something like that and not..."

As she stopped right there he guessed what she'd wanted to say.

"And not go crazy? _I did, but maybe I would have any way because I get it from my Dad_."

As she saw the pain in his eyes she blinked away tears.

"Oh Marv, come here..." She said tearfully, "Just let me hold you, honey..."

And Vera held him in her arms as she sobbed for the little boy who had hid under his dead sister's bed while his father roamed the house, searching for him because he wanted to kill him, too...

"You're so brave." Vera said as she stroked his hair and looked into his eyes, "You've had such a terrible thing to live with all these years I'm not surprised you got so sick, I see the reason for it now. I know these things can happen out of the blue with depression but when it happened to you I always wondered if there was more to it, I couldn't see you falling apart just because of jail... I knew there was something, I just wish you'd told me all this a long time ago."

Marv's eyes still reflected sadness but he managed a smile as he looked at Vera and took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm okay now." He promised her, "I know I'll never be as strong as I used to be not in my mind, but as long as I have you and Elise I'll get through life, you're all I need, pumpkin."

Vera hugged him again.

"You're the bravest guy I've ever known." She said softly, "You have so much courage; you just don't know it..."

"I don't want to talk about any of this with anyone else – _especially_ not Vi." He told her.

Vera thought about all the past disagreements he had been through with her sister and that remark made sense.

"I can understand that." She told him, "This is something you don't want to share...but I'm glad we've been able to talk about it, I really am. I love you so much."

Then she kissed him.

As she pulled back from that kiss, Vera thought about what he had said to her before they had started this conversation.

"Was there something else? When I came in, you said you had something to tell me?"

Finding out about his past had been a shock; Vera was still shocked, he could tell by how pale her face was. And she still had tears in her eyes, too.

She hadn't known his family, she wasn't crying for them; she was crying for him and what he had been through and Marv knew it- she didn't need another terrible shock right now, no matter how much he wanted to tell her about Vi he knew it would have to wait, at least until Vera had come to terms with all she had learned about his past.

"What was it?" She wondered, "What did you want to tell me, Marv?"

He shook his head.

"I don't remember pumpkin. Don't worry about it."

And then he put his arms around her, holding her tightly as the two of them sat together in silence, embracing as they both thought about the terrible events that had happened here in this house so long ago...

* * *

A while later, Vera went upstairs to check on Elise.

She stopped in the little girl's doorway and stared at the pieces of fabric all over the floor.

Elise finished sewing two cut pieces together and looked up at her Mom.

"I think I cut too much off," She said, "Maybe I can make a skirt out of it..."

"That was expensive!" She exclaimed, "What the hell have you done?"

Marv was still sitting downstairs and he heard Vera telling Elise off for trying to make the dress. He thought about going up there and offering to take her back to the shop and get her some more, but then a key turned in the front door and then the door closed again.

He felt his heart sink; _Violet was back..._

As he came out of the front room she paused in the hallway and smiled at him.

"Hi Marv." She said sweetly, "Is Vera back yet?"

"She's upstairs." He replied, feeling confident that telling her that would be a clear message: _Hands off..._

But Vi just walked up to him, got closer and put her arm around him.

He drew in a sharp breath as his body went tense.

She kept one arm around his waist while she glanced up the stairs and then she lowered her voice to a whisper as her other hand moved painfully across the bruise below his belt.

"I've got some good news for you, Marv. I've been out to buy a barbecue. I'm going to cook for us all in the garden tomorrow. _And while we're all having a nice happy family time, I'm going to tell Vera I want to move in permanently._ And you are going to say that's a _good_ idea, have you got that, Marv?"

And then Vera was coming down the stairs and Vi's hands were off him and she had stepped back as if nothing had happened.

As Vera glanced at Vi and Marv stood there wondering why the world was still turning as it always did and he was the only one who felt like screaming that something was wrong, he decided the time had come: Vi had to be stopped, she _had_ to be stopped before she moved in forever and life got worse...

_He wasn't going to let that happen no matter what the cost_.

_It wasn't going to happen, because he was going to stop her..._

* * *

Marv waited until the evening, after Elise had gone to bed, while Vera was watching TV, he waited until Vi went out into the kitchen and then he decided to make a move.

Vera was sitting on the sofa and he had been sitting with her and his arm had been around her while she watched a movie, but while she watched the screen her thoughts were nowhere near the dark place his thoughts had drifted to:

_It all ended tonight, everything ended..._

_There was no other way now._

He had been thinking about his father and what he would have done.

He wouldn't have let Vi get away with the things she had done, he knew it for sure.

And he was going to end this now, the _only_ way he could end it...

He took his arm off Vera's shoulder and got up.

"I won't be a minute," He told her, then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

As he walked into the kitchen Violet was pouring a cold drink over some ice cubes into a tall glass. She stopped and put the drink down, looking at him with a flicker of surprise in her eyes.

"Marv." She said, "You wanted to see me?"

He quietly closed the door as a smile crept onto his face and that smile stayed there as he walked up to her, put his arms around her and then he kissed her hard, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

At first she was too stunned by his willingness to give a response, but then she welcomed his kiss, locking her mouth on his as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Then he let her go and glanced back at the closed door, just to double check they could talk secretly.

"I'm starting to like the idea of you being around all the time." He told her, "I want you to meet me tonight when Vera's asleep."

There was an odd kind of sparkle about his eyes and it was something she couldn't quite read.

"While she's asleep? Are you sure you want to do that, Marv?"

His smile grew wider.

"You bet I do," He said in a low voice as he reached out and ran a fingertip down her face, "I can see it now, I _know _you want me; I _know_ we should be together. _Meet me tonight. Meet me at midnight in the barn._"

And then he turned and left the room, while Vi stared after him, feeling surprised to think that Marv had come around to her way of thinking so easily...then she thought about all the things she had forced him to do and then she smiled; _Maybe he wasn't so difficult to break after all..._

* * *

By the time the sky was dark and the moon was up, Marv was up in the bedroom with Vera. She was ready for bed but he was still fully dressed and sitting on top of the covers as she tried to relax.

"Don't you want to come to bed yet?" She wondered.

Marv glanced at the clock: It was almost eleven.

He was starting to feel impatient now, because he didn't want Vi to get to the barn first because that would spoil her surprise...

He wanted to get there before her, he wanted Vera to go to sleep so that he could set up everything the way he had planned it.

He didn't want to think about it while Vera was awake; _he knew what he was going to do and by the time she heard the gun shot she would be awake anyway because he was going to leave his cell phone on the pillow beside her with the alarm set to go off at exactly twelve fifteen in the morning – and there would be a note wrapped around it, telling her what to do._

Then she would know everything - _but then the gun would go off and nothing would matter any more..._

"_Marv?"_

Vera moved closer to him and put her arm around him.

"Are you okay? I'm worried I might have made you feel worse, with me talking about your family."

"No." Marv said quietly, "You could never make me unhappy, I really mean that, pumpkin."

And then he kissed her.

She reached for him but he pulled back, feeling an ache in his heart as he guessed that after he killed her sister she would never want to kiss him again. Then he reasoned that after killing her sister he would probably shoot himself anyway so it didn't really matter.

"I've _always_ loved you." He told her as he looked into her eyes.

Vera's expression changed for a second as she wondered why he had sounded so intense, so final about that statement.

Then she remembered it had been an emotional day, Marv had talked about a past he had ever discussed before and she knew he was fragile right now, but at least she knew the reason for it.

"Don't you want to go to sleep tonight?" She wondered.

Marv lie down beside her and put his arm around her. She was in bed now but he was still on top of the covers.

"You go to sleep." He said softly as he turned out the light, "I just want to sit here for a while, I'm not tired yet."

Then he held her closer, stroking her hair and listening to her breathing as she started to relax in his arms.

The moonlight through the window gave enough light to check the clock next to the bed.

"Are you asleep?" He whispered after more than ten minutes.

Vera gave a sigh as he stroked her hair and as he slipped away from her embrace he got up quietly.

He set the alarm clock on his cell phone and left it on the pillow beside her, along with a note that explained everything.

She slept on and when he reached the door he turned back, wondering if he would live through this night to ever see her face again.

"_I love you, pumpkin._" He whispered, _"And I'm sorry..."_

Then he left the bedroom and made his way quietly down the stairs.

* * *

Marv slipped out of the house and ran over to the barn staying in the shadows just in case Violet was looking out of the window; as he ran amongst the darkened trees and stayed close to the darkest parts of the garden he smiled briefly as he thought back to how he used to sneak around robbing houses. But that smile left his face as he reached the barn and opened the door.

He closed and bolted it , then stumbled in the dark until he found the oil lamp.

Once alight, it filled the barn with a warm glow.

That strange sense of calm was coming over him again; it stayed with him as he pinned the picture to the wall, put on his Daddy's coat and the took the shot gun out of its hiding place:

Yes, Violet was going to get a _big_ surprise tonight...

She didn't know it yet, but when she walked through the barn door she wouldn't be meeting Marv Merchants, the nervous wreck of a man whose life she had made a misery.

Instead she would be meeting someone else:

_Tonight, Violet was going to meet Daddy..._

* * *

The house was silent as Vi left by the back door and ran down the moonlit path, losing herself in darkness for a brief moment as she passed the old apple trees.

The barn door was ajar and she slowed her pace as she approached it, aware that a faint light glowed from within.

As she reached the barn she shivered; the night air had lost its warmth and there was a chill on the breeze. She wished she had brought her jacket but then she thought about how Marv had become so willing to please all of a sudden and she smiled, guessing he would be keeping her warm soon enough...

She went into the barn and looked around: The place was in semi-darkness except for the glow from an old oil lamp.

Confusion clouded her eyes as she looked over at the wall that the lamp illuminated: Here there was nothing, except for some boxes... _and_ an old picture pinned up on the wall...

"Marv?" She said softly.

Then he stepped out of the shadows.

He came out of the darkness with a smile on his face as he fixed his gaze on her.

"Hi Violet." He said warmly, "I've been waiting for you to show up. You're three minutes late."

And Violet, who had walked to the middle of the barn and now stood in the dim light, felt a strange sense of unease as he crossed the floor and stepped closer to her.

"You look different." She said, not sure of any other way to put it; Marv had lost all his fear, all his nervousness. There was a look in his dark blue eyes that she couldn't define, a look she had never seen before.

"Shut your eyes." He said sweetly, I've got a big surprise for you."

And as he spoke, his hand reached inside his long leather coat and his fingers brushed against the buckle of his belt.

She smiled back at him.

"I'll shut my eyes. But if you keep me waiting longer than five seconds-"

"I won't keep you waiting." He promised her, "I can see it now; I know you and me have a lot to think about, and I know what to do..."

"Good boy." She said smugly as she closed her eyes.

_Suddenly something cold and hard was jammed up against the side of her neck._

She gave a gasp and opened her eyes, looking sideways, unable to turn her head and as she saw the only thing between them was the length of the shotgun he had up against her throat, she gave a cry of fear that was choked off as she felt her breath leave her body around the same time she shook all over and realized her jeans were soaked through because she'd peed herself in fright.

Marv was still smiling, but now his eyes were shining with a dark kind of menace she had never imagined him capable of; _it was as if he wasn't Marv any more..._

He stood there fixing her with a stare that went right through her, gun held against her throat in a hard, steady aim and she knew for sure the man in the long leather coat could _not _be quarrelled with; he looked as if he would pull the trigger at the slightest provocation...

She gave a tiny sob and blinked, trying to meet his gaze without turning her head.

"_Please...don't kill me!"_

"_Why not?"_ Marv said sharply_, "You don't know who you've been messing with, lady! I didn't buy this house – this house belonged to my father, my father who killed my Momma and my sister! I'm like him, I'm just like Freddie. That's him –"_

He briefly glanced at the picture on the wall, "That's my Daddy. I wanted you to come here and meet him..."

Marv looked hard at her and drew in a sharp breath.

"_Daddy doesn't like you."_ He said darkly, _"He doesn't like you at all..."_

She gave a sob as the gun pressed harder against her neck.

"Marv, please...I'm sorry I'm so sorry..."

He jabbed at her neck with the gun and she slid to her knees where she looked up at him tearfully.

"_Please, I'm begging you – don't be crazy! Please put the gun down, please..."_

But his aim was steady; he had no trace of any doubts and placed the gun downwards, right against her neck once more as he stood over her.

"You're gonna die tonight." He informed her, "It doesn't matter any more, nothing does. Vera's going to know everything because when the alarm goes off and she wakes up she'll play the video of you and me, the one I made that you don't know about! She'll know what a fucking liar you are. _She'll know what you've done to me! And I don't care about what happens after that because I'm killing you and then I'm shooting myself_."

Then he drew in a slow breath as his eyes burned with rage.

"_I NEVER RAPED YOU!"_ He yelled.

She sobbed as she trembled on her knees on the floor of the barn while he kept that gun up against her neck, ready to blow her head clean off at the first sign that she might even _think_ about getting away; _there was no escape, she was going to die, she knew it..._

"Don't kill me, think about Elise."

"Elise?" Marv echoed, _"She's better off without her lying, twisted pervert Auntie Vi who's trying to wreck her Dad's life!"_

As he looked down at her, he smiled.

"_How does it feel to be scared? Is it cold and nasty and does it fuck your head up, Violet?"_

"_Yes."_ She whispered tearfully, unable to nod her head because of the gun.

Marv paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

Then he spoke quietly.

"Say it out loud, Vi. Did I_ rape_ you?"

She gave another sob.

_"No."_ She said her trembling voice barely above a whisper.

Marv kept the gun tight up against her as he fixed her with a hard stare.

"Wanna say that again?"

"_No."_

"No, what?" Marv demanded.

"No...no you _didn't_ rape me!" She said fearfully, "I'm _sorry_ I lied to you! _I was mad at you because you pushed me away!_"

Marv felt ice cold as he looked down the length of the shotgun and into the eyes of the woman who was crying and shaking on her knees on the floor of the barn.

_"You wrecked my life."_ He stated, "I thought prison was bad, but what I thought I did to you pushed me over the fucking edge! Can you understand that? Can you see this thing from _MY_ perspective, you evil bitch?"

She trembled as she spoke.

"_Yes, I know, I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen..."_

And as she looked up at him all she could think was, Marv was the man who had survived the massacre at this house...she _never_ would have done any of this, never would have pushed him so far, and she _never_ would have left the shotgun in the barn if she had known he was Freddie's son...

_But it was too late now; she could see that by the look in his eyes..._

"Tell me how it feels to be scared." Marv said coldly, _"Tell me how it feels to be so afraid all you want to do is think about dying!"_

* * *

Back at the house, Vera was woken from a deep sleep by Marv's alarm bleeping softly on his cell phone.

She sat up and switched on the bedside lamp, grabbing his phone and turning off the alarm.

Then she saw the paper beside it.

She unfolded it and read the message:

"_Vi is hurting me. She's been lying, I didn't know it at first but I know it now. She says I raped her and I didn't and now I'm sick she's making me do things I don't want to do. Play the video, Vera. I have proof. And I'm sorry...this has to end now."_

Vera drew in a breath and looked at the message again.

"_Oh no..."_ She said in hushed voice, recalling how her sister had almost gone to jail for stalking her ex boyfriend... _and then there had been the other guy the one who she really liked, who had dated her a few times and then dumped her. She had made allegations to the cops, allegations that the cops suspected, but could not prove, were false..._

_She'd done this to Marv too?_

"_No..."_ She said again as she felt somewhere between numbness and sliding out of her own body with the shock of it all.

Then she got out of bed, still wearing Marv's shirt and put her skirt back on. As she put her shoes on she accessed the video on the phone.

By the time she had got to the part where he was begging her to stop assaulting him and she had slapped his face a second time, Vera turned the film off.

Then she looked around, wondered where Marv had gone...

"Where _are_ you?" She said quietly, stepping over to the window...

He was her only concern right now; she knew he'd been sick, she knew he was vulnerable...she just wanted him to be safe.

She didn't even want to _think_ about what she would do to Vi until she knew Marv was okay...

She saw the barn in darkness except for a faint crack of dim light that showed through a tiny gap in the door.

A ghostly flicker just about reached up to the grimy old windows too; she thought about his father and how he had died in that same place.

Then she thought about the fact that there were no guns in this house, at least he wouldn't shoot himself... _but what the hell was he up to?_

Vera remembered the words in his note.

"_This has to end now?"_ She said aloud.

Vera left the bedroom and went quietly down the stairs, deciding whatever was happening, it was something that must never, ever touch her daughter's life...Elise was asleep and she had to be quiet...

She went out the door and closed it softly, and then she ran down the path, towards the old barn.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Marv kept his grip firm on the gun as he looked down at Violet.

"Feels _bad_, doesn't it?" He asked her, _"Trapped, having no one to turn to, feeling alone and scared!"_

Vi's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Don't do this..." She pleaded.

"_Marv!"_

He turned his head, seeing Vera, who had come into the barn and seen enough to understand exactly what was going on.

She stared in horror at the gun in his hands.

"Put it down!" She said as she walked slowly towards him, looking into his eyes and seeing in a glance that he had been pushed to the absolute brink, _"PUT IT DOWN!"_

He stepped back a little, shifting the gun an inch from Violet's neck and although the weapon was still pointed at her, she finally found room to drag in a proper breath.

Marv looked back at her as he carried on talking to Vera.

He shook his head.

"No, it's gone too far now. Get out of here, forget you ever saw this, because it's gonna get worse and I don't want you carrying that kind of memory inside your head! I don't want to have to shoot you too, pumpkin..."

Vera had stopped a short distance away from him on hearing those words and she made no attempt to grab at the gun.

Her eyes filled with tears and she glared at her sister, then looked back at her husband again.

"Carrying the memory? Like _you_ carry the memory of what happened to your family, Marv? No, you're not going to kill anyone... I don't believe you'd shoot me either... the cops need to deal with my sister_. Please_, honey...put it down, let's call them together, I'll help you, we'll do the right thing together, you don't have to be scared..."

Marv's finger was a fraction from the trigger as he looked into Violet's eyes.

"_You don't deserve to live."_ He stated.

His hand was shaking as he made no attempt to move his finger further from the trigger.

"Don't kill her." Vera said quietly, "This is my fault too; she's been unstable around guys before, I knew that... but she's not been as bad as this, not with what she's done to you. But I _never_ thought she would go after my husband, why should I? She's my sister; you're her brother in law!"

And Vera gave a sob.

"I'm sorry I should have known her better but I just didn't see this coming... _don't _shoot my sister, Marv. _Don't be crazy_. Put the gun down; let's walk away from this..."

"It's not your fault." Marv said quietly to Vera as he kept the weapon trained on Violet, "Don't blame yourself..."

He briefly glanced at his father's picture and then looked back at Violet giving her no chance to shift away from his aim.

"My Daddy was a good man. He was a good man who loved his family. He got sick and it was the depression that killed him and my family – he wasn't a bad guy, it wasn't his fault. I know how he felt, I've been there, under his skin... that's why I found the shotgun in here- it was _his_."

Violet started to tremble harder.

"_I put it there! I did it to scare you, Marv!_ I found out about the history to this place and I wanted to scare you but..."

She dragged in another breath.

"Oh God, I swear I _never_ would have done it if I'd known! I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything!"

Vera felt somewhere between numb from shock and sick now to the pit of her stomach_: _

_Violet had put a gun in here to scare him?_

She looked at her sister and knew she couldn't voice aloud the thoughts that were running through her head about how much she hated her at that moment, because Marv would pull the trigger for sure...

"If my Daddy could do it," He said quietly, "He'd make amends for what he did that night. That wasn't him, the man who shot my family - not my father, he wasn't a murderer. My father loved me, I was Daddy's boy, I was so close to him_...and I'm just like him too_."

And then his finger moved away from the trigger.

"I'm like him," He said again, "But I'm _not_ him."

He stepped back a little, further distancing himself from Violet.

"_That's why I won't kill you."_ He told her, "Because I'm not so far over the edge that I'd pull the trigger. I came close to it, but I won't do it – I had to come this close to know for sure and now I _am_ sure – I'm _not_ going to do what my father did."

Vera breathed a huge sigh of relief as Marv lowered the gun a fraction.

Then the breath was snatched away from her as she saw Violet jump up from the floor and make a grab for the shot gun.

She gave Marv a shove and he fell backwards, hitting the barn floor as she fell with him, as Vera watched in horror as they both struggled for the weapon that was pointed downwards, the barrel of the gun pressed hard against Marv's side just below his ribcage.

"Let go of it, you crazy bastard!" Vi yelled, making another grab for the weapon.

Vera stepped forward and froze, guessing if one more person got involved in this struggle the gun would go off for sure...

_"Get off him!"_ She shouted.

They rolled in the dirt and the dust again and Violet's hand closed around the weapon.

"_Drop it, you fucking psycho!" _She said bitterly, closing her hand around the gun and tugging at it.

As Vera gave a gasp that was choked off with the shock of seeing her sister's finger slip onto the trigger, Marv didn't notice.

The barn door swung open and he turned his head, oblivious to the fact that the loaded shot gun was a fraction of a second from going off.

He stared at the shadowy figure who stood in the barn; in the second he caught a glimpse he saw his heavy boots, he saw his long coat and as he looked into his eyes, he knew his face...

"_Daddy?"_ He whispered.

He was standing over them now, reaching down, but not for Violet, his father was reaching out to _him..._

Then the gun that was pressed against him pushed up against the leather coat he was still wearing, digging harder into his side - and then it went off as Vi's finger slipped and hit the trigger.

* * *

_The blast seemed to pass through him and shake every bone in his body, then he was being pulled to his feet and the barn door was open and it wasn't dark outside any more._

Marv stared into the eyes of his father and realized this was no hallucination; he wasn't seeing things the way he did as a little kid – he was standing as tall as his father and looking right into his eyes.

"_We knew you'd come back some day."_ He said, and then he smiled.

His father walked out of the barn and Marv followed; the sun was bright in the sky on the kind of summer's day he remembered as a child.

The horses were in the field and the stables were still standing, untouched by the blaze he recalled on the night of the shootings.

Then a little girl in a pale summer dress ran over from the duck pond and looked up at him.

As she smiled at him he knew who she was at once.

"Hi Marv." Said Sylvia, "I've missed you a lot!"

"_We all have."_

Marv turned from his sister and blinked away tears as he saw his mother stood there beside his father and then she put her arm around him.

And then they both smiled.

"_We're all okay."_ Said his Dad, "_We're still together..."_

* * *

As the gun went off, Vera thought she screamed but all she remembered was the blast of the shot gun and the way her husband was slammed against the floor as the bullet shattered his body.

Violet had fallen backwards, dropping the gun and now she was scrambling to her feet, her face pale and her eyes wide as she looked at Marv who was on his side and not moving.

"It was an accident...an _accident_, Vera!"

She heard her sister's voice but just fell to her knees beside her husband.

Marv's face had turned white as a corpse and she could tell there was a hole blown in the side of his coat but she couldn't turn him over, she couldn't move him because she guessed the bullet had gone through him and he was bleeding into the floor.

"_Please hold on."_ She whispered as she stood up again, ready to take his cell phone from her pocket and call an ambulance.

Then she heard sobbing.

Her sister was standing there, back turned because she couldn't bear to see what she had done.

"_It was an accident!_" She said in a panicked voice.

Vera recalled how they'd fought for the gun, how Vi's finger had accidentally slipped on the trigger.

"_I know."_ She said in a hushed voice.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" Violet said tearfully.

She was shaking as she sobbed, her back was still turned.

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" Vi protested.

"_I know that too." Vera_ said quietly as she fixed her gaze on her younger sister.

Violet was still crying.

Vera gave a heavy sigh, summoning the strength to say her name.

But Violet just carried on sobbing.

"_It wasn't my fault..."_

Vera drew in a tight breath as she thought about everything her sister had done.

"_Vi."_ She said tearfully, _"Just look at me..."_

And Vi turned around, seeing too late the hatred that glittered darkly in Vera's eyes.

_She was gripping the gun with both hands, using all of her strength, drawing on every ounce of her rage as she smashed the butt of the gun straight into Violet's face._

* * *

Vera grabbed Marv's cell phone from her pocket and called 911, glancing back at her sister who was bleeding and unconscious on the floor.

"I need an ambulance." Her voice trembled as she spoke to the operator, "And I need the police too – _my sister went crazy. She just shot my husband..."_

As Vera heard the voice on the end of the line telling her help was on the way, she dropped the phone and went back to Marv's side, kneeling in the dirt as she looked at the way he was lying there, showing no signs of life.

He felt heavy as she gently shifted him slightly and cradled his head in her lap.

"Please don't die," She sobbed, "I love you so much, Marv_...please_..."

Then the barn door creaked open and Elise ran in, staring at the gun, at her Auntie Vi who was on her back knocked out cold.

Then she saw her father on the floor and her mother holding him in her arms and she started to cry.

_"Daddy?"_ She said tearfully.

As she knelt down next to him she took hold of his hand tightly.

"Don't die..." She sobbed.

_"Vi shot Daddy."_ Vera said as tears ran down her face, _"Honey, I'm sorry, but I don't think he's going to make it..."_

And then Vera held her husband tightly, crushing him against her as she sobbed and wished she could hold the life inside him and stop it from slipping away.

"I love you so much!" Vera sobbed as she held on to him.

Marv dragged in a breath as he opened his eyes.

"_Vera,"_ He said, "I love you too, pumpkin. But could you let _go_ of me? I can't breathe, give me some air!"

As she heard his voice Vera carefully let go of him, surprised that he had regained consciousness.

Elise had stopped crying and she started to smile.

"Are you okay?" She said hopefully.

Marv tried to sit up but Vera gently pressed her hands on his shoulders.

"Marv, don't move...you've been shot..."

He looked at her in surprise.

"No I haven't, I'm fine!"

And he got up from the floor.

As he got up, so did Vera, she reached out to steady him expecting him to collapse again but he just brushed the dust from his father's coat and then opened up one side of it, looking in surprise at the hole that had ripped right through it.

Vera's jaw dropped as she looked at the hole that went through the front of his coat and out the back of it; there was a hole in floor too, where the bullet had gone straight through...

_But Marv was unharmed, beneath his coat where she had expected to see a hole blown in his side he had nothing but a few smudges of dirt on his white shirt where he had had been lying in the dirt with the coat ripped open..._

"_What the hell..."_ She murmured in disbelief.

Marv glanced at his father's picture that was pinned to the wall, then he reached up and took it down and smiled as he put it in his pocket.

"I _saw_ him." He whispered as he put his arm around Vera and the three of them walked out of the barn to wait for the cops, "Didn't you see him too?"

"Who?" Vera said.

"My Daddy." He replied, "I saw him reach for me as the gun went off. I knew he'd make amends for the past if he could, and I think he just did..."

Vera looked at him in confusion.

"But he's dead; he's been dead for years..."

"_I know that."_

Then as Marv closed the barn door and secured it in case Violet woke up, he glanced at Elise, who had run up the path and was watching as flashing lights got closer as the wail of sirens cut through the air, then he looked back at his wife.

"What about Violet?" He wondered.

Vera looked into his eyes.

"I told them she shot you. I'll say she asked you to meet her in the barn and then she went crazy, she shot at you. She's out of our lives, baby. It's going to be okay."

And the flashing lights were coming closer, reflecting in his eyes as he thought about what Vera had planned to do.

He nodded his head.

"Okay, I've got my story straight."

And Vera leaned closer and briefly kissed him.

"I'm taking Elise back to the house." She told him.

Marv nodded.

"Fine, I'll speak to the cops first..."

Then Marv watched as Vera took their daughter back to the house.

_He thought about Violet and everything she had done to him and the thought briefly crossed his mind that him and Vera were both about to frame her for attempted murder, but the way he saw it, after all she had done, he really had no problem with that at all..._

* * *

When summer faded and the leaves turned shades of brown and gold, the bad memories began to slowly fade.

Elise was too busy settling into her new school and making new friends to notice what else was going on; she didn't pick up on any of it, but the first few months they spent together at the house after Violet was arrested did not pass easily.

Marv was not able to brush off the scars she had left him with; for a long time Vera ached to hold him in her arms and know they were close like they used to be, but after everything Vi had put him through Marv couldn't relax in bed anymore, sometimes Vera felt like she was hurting him by touching him because every time she tried he pushed her away, apologized and then said he just wasn't ready.

Vera had worked it out; it was all about trust.

After what Violet had done she wasn't surprised that he had a hard time getting close to her.

They'd kiss and caress and then he would freeze, even though he was aching to make love to her.

_"Don't let her take anything away from us._" Vera had told him as they lay together early one winter's morning, both close beneath the covers.

And Marv had just held onto her and said nothing in reply.

* * *

Time went on and the winter melted away and the spring came around and Elise was thrilled to find there were ducks in the pond.

Vera had given Marv a hug and said she knew Elise would have loved the ducks, and Marv had laughed and recalled the hard time he had getting them into the cage to bring them home; one had escaped and he had to chase it all around the market – he'd secretly named that one _Fucker_, because as he'd grabbed it, the duck had snapped at his hand.

"You probably didn't handle it the right way." Vera said as she stood in the kitchen making some coffee.

Marv leaned against the table and laughed.

"And how_ do_ you handle a duck when it's pissed about being picked up?"

Vera turned and looked at him.

"Well you just..."

And then she laughed.

"I don't know." She admitted.

Then as her gaze stayed locked on his, Marv found he couldn't look away.

He felt an ache in his heart as he said what was on his mind.

_"I miss being with you."_ He told her.

Vera gave him an understanding smile.

"_I can wait, Marv. I once waited ten years for you. I can do it again if I have to."_

Marv stepped closer and put his arms around her waist.

"I wouldn't want you to do that." He said softly, feeling as if a bit more of the past that had hurt so much had just fallen away, "I love you. Sometimes I look at you and I think about all the things I want to be doing with you. I want to be with you..."

It was the middle of the day and Elise was at school and they were all alone in the house; _suddenly he felt like the time was right to try again, to get closer to his wife, to make her right about the fact that Violet had no right to take anything away from either of them by what she had done..._

Marv pulled her closer and gently kissed her.

Then as he pulled back from that kiss he looked into Vera's eyes.

"I want us to go upstairs now," He said softly, _"And I want us to be the way we used to be."  
_

Desire made her eyes go like dark pools.

She took hold of his hand.

"_Let's go upstairs, Marv."_ She said quietly.

* * *

He knew as he took her in his arms that things would be different this time; they kissed and held onto each other for a long time, taking everything slowly.

When they were both together in bed she held him and he held on to her too and they talked softly together.

"If you want me to stop just say so." She told him, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, you know that."

Marv replied with a kiss and then smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"I don't want you to stop." He promised her, "I want you to kiss me..."

Vera reached for him, kissing him deeply and with the kind of passion that made her want to cry; it had been so long since they had been like this, together, with no memories of the past acting like a barrier that kept them apart.

Marv ran his fingers through her long hair as they kissed again, then at last she gave a gasp of pleasure as she felt the weight of him on top of her, she tasted his kiss again and finally very nerve in her body came alive as he took her with the kind of passion she had missed, every touch, every movement brought her closer to losing all control and she clung harder to him, wishing their lovemaking could last forever.

_"I love you..."_ He said breathlessly, knowing for sure that he had missed her warmth, the warmth that only the inside of her body could give. At that moment he wished he could just crawl inside her and live there forever, wrapped somewhere between her heart her soul.

He was close to the edge as he pulled away from her and turned on his back.

"_Do it..."_ He begged her.

Vera hesitated; after what Vi had done to him, he couldn't stand the thought of her even kissing below his hips these days, she knew that for sure because she had lost count of the times he had pushed her away...

_"You want me to?"_

Marv glanced down at her.

"Just do it," He said urgently, "I _want_ you to do it!"

And as she leaned closer he pushed her downwards impatiently.

_His grip tightened on her hair, just the feel of her on him was enough to set him off because it had been far too long since he had known this feeling and he missed it, he wanted it back..._

* * *

Moments later they were both embracing in damp sheets and Marv pulled Vera closer and gazed into her eyes.

"I think we're going to be okay." He told her as he started to smile.

Vera smiled too as she held onto him.

"I think you're right." She replied, and then she kissed him again.

Then they stayed right where they wanted to be, together in bed, embracing and enjoying the kind of closeness that had once seemed impossible to ever have again.

_And while they embraced, they talked about the future and they made their plans._

* * *

When Vera brought Elise home from school, she couldn't help but smile when she heard her say, _"You look different, Mom. Your face looks all flushed and warm. Are you okay?"_

Vera had opened the front door and gone into the house and glanced in the mirror and laughed softly.

"Must be the fresh air that's doing it." She remarked, secretly feeling even warmer inside as she thought about the fact that she had just spent the afternoon making love with her husband for the first time in months, and she was so happy about it she wished she could shout it from the rooftops.

"Marv?" She called out, "We're back!"

Elise looked up at her mother.

"What's going on?" She asked her, "What's the big surprise?"

And as Marv came out of the front room with some papers in his hand, Vera smiled.

_"Daddy's going to explain everything."_ She promised her.

Then Marv led them both outside, through the garden, past the big old apple trees and into the wide open space beside the old barn.

"What's this about?" Elise asked him, I don't see any surprise."

And Marv looked at Vera and smiled again, then he looked at his daughter as he opened up the paper he had in his hand.

"You know when I was in jail, and I got hurt? Well I got compensation for that. But the money's been sitting in the bank for a while because I hadn't decided what to do with it."

And Elise just looked at him.

"So what _are_ you going to do?" She asked him.

He showed her the plans and she frowned.

"What is it?" She wondered.

"That's what's going to be right here." He told her, "After we have the barn taken down. It's _stables_, Elise!"

And Vera put her arm around Marv as she remembered the way his eyes had lit up when he told her about his plans.

"Daddy wants to breed horses like his father did." She told her.

"Horses?" She exclaimed excitedly, "Really?"

Marv smiled as he nodded.

"Yes, but don't get excited about it yet. This is going to take a while to set up."

"Can I have a horse?" Elise asked him.

Marv thought about it.

"Maybe a little pony." He told her.

Then she gave him a hug, and then she looked at her mother.

"Can I call my friends and tell them?"

"Right now?" Vera said, "We don't even have stables yet!"

"Please?" She asked her.

"Okay." Vera told her, "Call a couple of your friends only – _not_ the whole class! And don't be on the phone too long!"

Then as Elise ran back towards the house to tell her friends the news Vera turned to Marv.

"Are you sure we can do this?" She wondered, glancing out at the wide open space and thinking about everything he had planned.

"Sure we can, pumpkin!" Marv said, sounding confident, "We can do anything we want to do – and I _know_ it won't go wrong, I've got my Dad watching over me."

As they stood together framed by the wide green fields beyond the house that looked bright in the afternoon sunlight, Vera put both her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

"Your Dad?" She said doubtfully, "But he's_ gone_, Marv. He can't do anything to help us out."

And Marv just gave her a knowing smile.

"_I have a bullet hole in his coat that says otherwise." _He reminded her.

And Vera thought about it: _She still couldn't explain how the bullet had gone all the way through the coat and into the floor without touching him. Even the cops hadn't been able to explain it, writing it off by saying he had just been lucky..._

"I don't know about your coat." She said to him, "But I _do_ know that when you talk about your family you tell me about how your Mom used to sit in her favourite chair and take out her knitting while your Dad was watching TV and you and Sylvie were sitting by the fire on a cold winters night, I don't think about the bad stuff, you've told me so much more. All I think of when I think of them is the happy times that you remember."

For a moment Marv had a far away look in his eyes.

"That's what we need to do." He told her, suddenly feeling confident that nothing would ever hold him back in life again, nothing would ever pull him down until its weight crushed him again – because it was gone now, all the bad stuff was gone away and in its place he kept memories of the happy times instead.

And as he smiled at her his eyes lit up with hope for the future because he had just realised, after many years of thinking he had nothing, that he actually had a lot to look forward to now.

"We need to hold onto the good memories." He told her.

"And what about the bad ones?" She wondered as she looked back at him.

Marv held her closer and tighter, knowing the answer in a heartbeat.

"_We leave them in the past."_ He said, _"We hang on to the good memories and we go on making new ones too. We do it every day and we don't look back."_

And as Vera looked into his eyes she smiled too; she knew he was right.

He didn't have any fear in his eyes now; it was all gone, brushed away by the fact that he had left the bad times behind and found the strength to move onwards like the survivor he knew he was.

"I like the sound of that." She told him, and then they stood together, looking out at the wide green space and thinking about the future, a future they would build starting from today- where the past stayed in its place and where they made new memories every day – _and every single one of them would be good..._

The End.


End file.
